Ordinary People
by HelenItsme
Summary: A new generation has taken over Tree Hill. The sons and daughters of the teens now deal with similar issues that their parents dealt with years ago. Both parents and children will now encounter betrayal, lies, cheating, lust, love, and hate.
1. Warning Sign

**Title**: Ordinary People  
**Author**: Helen (HelenItsme)  
**Rating**: T  
**Summary**: A new generation has taken over Tree Hill. The sons and daughters of the teens now deal with similar issues that their parents dealt with years ago. Both parents and children will now encounter betrayal, lies, cheating, lust, love, and hate. This story is a look into the future, what happened after high school graduation. It's amazing how much power that resentment has, in such a small town.  
**Spoilers**: This story takes place in the future and things are pretty different now. The gang are now adults and have to take care of themselves and of their teenage kids. It may be confusing but I'll explain everything you need to know in the story.  
**Author's Note**: Yay, another story by me! Now I've finished 'Material Girl' it's about time I wrote another one. I hope you all enjoy reading it and let me know what you think about it. I'm always up for constructive criticism and more ideas for me to write.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own any of the characters from One Tree Hill, I just borrow and manipulate them. I also don't own the lyrics or the quotes I'll be using some time during the story. I do own my own made up characters, hehe.

Chapter 1. Warning Sign

"Abigail Danneel Scott if you don't open up that door right now I'll ground you for three fucking weeks!" Brooke Davis-Scott screamed after noticing her daughter was still asleep at 8 am. She let out a frustrated yell when she didn't hear any sign of the girl being awake so she started banging on the door instead.

"I mean it Abigail and you know it, So if you don't open up that door in five seconds, I'll-"

All of a sudden the door opened and an annoyed Abigail appeared in an extremely short skirt and a T-shirt of some band that reminded Brooke of her best friend from high school Peyton. The girl inherited her mother's silky dark hair, porcelain skin and dimples, but got her father's eyes and smile.

She was beautiful and they both knew it. Abigail had always been grateful for the fact that she was a perfect blending of her father and mother but she never said it out loud. Brooke on the other hand, always reminded her that she had to show more respect towards her mother because she did, after all, get the good looks from her.

Abigail's face was always filled with superiority and confidence but now it was replaced by irritation and boredom. "Yeah I know, you'll take away my cell phone and make me stay in my room for three whole weeks. Trust me. I know the rules by now."

Her mother sneered as she spat in disgust. "Then you should know how to set your alarm because I'm sure as hell don't want to wake you up at seven in the morning to tell you to go to school. Why are you so fucking late anyway?"

"I overslept." Abigail said simply. She hated the fact that her mother always cursed in almost every sentence so she tried to talk as polite as possible, just to annoy 'Miss Bitch' also known as her mother.

Brooke rolled her eyes at the girl in front of her. She tried her best to stay calm but the girl just had her ways of annoying the crap out of her. "Well that's just great. Make yourself some breakfast because I'm going shopping. I have to get that new Prada bag and a pair of Jimmy Choo's is always nice."

As Abigail took the stairs while trying to ignore her mother, she noticed that her dad had left a note on the front door. Grabbing the note and reading it quickly, she let out a sigh of disappointment.

Nathan Scott was the coolest dad a kid could ever wish for. He was funny and extremely charming and the most important thing was that he loved his daughter more than anything in the world. He always made sure she knew that. Giving her expensive gifts like a dollhouse from China or diamond earrings from France was one of the things she loved so much about him.

The only negative thing about him was that he was a workaholic.

With the business trips all over the world, it was a rare occasion when her father was home. But when he was home, he always made sure to leave a good impression. The last time Abigail had seen her dad was two months ago and the only thing he had left ever since was this stupid note.

The words 'I'm so sorry' and 'I wish I could have stayed longer than a few hours' were starting to piss her off. She knew her dad loved to work and she knew he was busy but why didn't he realize the fact that she needed him? Dealing with her mother for a week was reasonable, but dealing with her for months was out of question.

He didn't know that mother and daughter didn't… Like each other very much. Brooke hated it that he paid more attention to his daughter when he was home than to his wife and, in frustration, she blamed Abigail for that.

Abigail just hated her mother.

Abigail knew her mother would never admit it but she knew that her mother liked to drink. A lot. The many glasses of wine she drank during dinner or the cocktails she loved while watching her favorite show were uncountable.

And the way her mother acted while she was drunk scared Abigail. She could make a fool out of herself and embarrass Abigail or, and this was the scary part, she could be aggressive.

Abigail remembered the last time she was drunk and aggressive. Brooke had thrown a very expensive vase (a gift from Nathan) towards her head and it missed her by only a few inches. Brooke had grabbed Abigail firmly by the arm and started screaming something that sounded like, "It's all your fault!" It had left a blue spot on her left arm that had hurt for days.

Besides the alcohol part, her mother was also very shallow. She was a perfect mother to the world but on the inside, Brooke was still the same manipulative cheerleader, caught up in high school, from all those years ago. Shopping as her favorite hobby and her pink Beetle Convertible confirmed that. Still, Brooke had a soft side. Abigail, however, hadn't seen that side of her mother in a very, very long time.

"Are you going to stare at that note all day long or do you plan on eating some breakfast?" A bitchy voice behind her brought Abigail back to the present, away from her thoughts. She locked her eyes for one second with her mother before ripping the note in pieces. After that she turned around quickly without saying one word to Brooke.

When Abigail heard the door slammed shut, confirmation that her mother had left the house, she let out a sigh. Taking a seat at the large table in the kitchen Abigail studied the picture hanging next to the fridge.

In the photograph stood one beautiful women showing off her dimples while the man next to her watched her in admiration as he held a little girl in his arms.

Abigail guessed she was three or four in that picture and as she looked closely she could see the sadness in her mother's eyes. She immediately recognized the phony smile that was plastered on her face and Abigail wondered if her mother had ever been happy. She knew she wasn't happy now, but had it always been that way? There had to be a time when her mother was in love with her father but did that mean she was happy back then? Did Brooke become unhappy when Abigail had entered her life?

Shaking her head sadly, Abigail grabbed her things and threw them in her bag before leaving the house.

She had lost her appetite.

* * *

After deciding to skip second period Abigail made her way to the bathroom while she tried to grab some cigarettes out of her bag. Her morning had started bad and her classes were worse so she was in desperate need of a cigarette.

"So I was looking at him and he was like, winking at me, and I started giggling and it was so embarrassing! And then-… Are you looking for something?" Her friend Lauren interrupted her own rant as she followed her friend into the empty bathroom.

"My cigarettes." Abigail mumbled annoyed.

Lauren raised an eyebrow as she heard Abigail's words. "I thought you quit smoking?"

When Abigail hadn't found what she had been looking for she let out a frustrated scream and threw the bag on the cold hard floor. Lauren crossed her arms as she watched her friend, waiting for an explanation.

"I had a little fight with Ms. bitch again, I swear she's getting worse every day." Abigail mumbled as she picked up her bag and looked again in the front pocket. "She's just pissing me off so much!"

Looking amused at her friend, Lauren grabbed her own cigarettes out of her bag and handed them to Abigail.

"You watched me looking for my cigarettes, and the entire time you had them in your own bag!"

Lauren shrugged her shoulders innocently. "You're entertaining when you're irritated. And besides, I was telling you a story and you didn't even listen to half of it… So yeah, that was your payback."

When they both finished smoking their cigarettes and sprayed some perfume to cover up the smell, they left the bathroom in a hurry.

"I have to grab some books first, so I'll see you in a minute," Abigail said as she waved Lauren a quick 'bye'. When Lauren was out of sight, leaving Abigail all alone in the hallway, she opened her locker and searched for the books she needed.

"I think you broke a record or something for always being late." A male voice said, out of nowhere, as a hand fell on her shoulder. She jumped in shock and dropped her books on the floor.

"Look what you've done! Help me pick them up." Abigail demanded as she saw who it was that scared the crap out of her.

Dylan Roe.

As a son of Lucas Roe and Haley James-Roe, star of the basketball team and biggest player on earth but still smart and handsome. He had quite a reputation. With Lucas' looks and charm and Haley's intelligence, he was a guy who had the teachers at his feet and an entire school that admired him.

Her mother and his mother hated each other for some weird reason that Abigail had never understood, and that's why Abigail and Dylan could never be friends or even hang out in the same crowd.

Not that she wanted to. The guy was a liar and a cheater and she hated his guts. He was so full of himself and while everyone loved him, he was banging shallow, blonde cheerleaders in the janitor's closet.

She had to admit that he was quite the looker and once in a while she caught herself staring at his handsome appearance but that was it, nothing more.

It seemed that he, on the other hand, was quite interested in her. He didn't care about the fact that their mothers hated each other. She was gorgeous and feisty and he liked it.

"Demanding are we?" He smirked cockily as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Just pick them up will you? I'm already running late, like you said." He started to gather the books together as she placed a few in her locker and others in her bag. They both were quiet, just the way she liked it when she was around him.

He was cute but when he opened his mouth the cocky and annoying guy appeared. When she grabbed the last book she caught him staring at her ass. She rolled her eyes at him in an annoyed way as she stood up to face him.

"Hey Mr. Pervert, will you stop staring at my ass and go to your next class or fuck some girl in an empty classroom or something? Either way, get out of my face." She knew she was a little hard on him but she didn't care, the staring was getting old.

He looked offended for a few seconds but his shocked face was quickly replaced by his famous smirk. "Somebody is pissed today."

Passing him while she placed her bag over her shoulder, she said to him in a just as cold voice, "Not that it's any of your business, but I had a rough morning and I don't want to deal with you right now."

His eyes lit up at the mention of a 'rough morning'. "What made this morning so rough?"

"Fuck you, Roe." She spat as she looked him in the eye for a second before walking away.

"I would love too." He called after her as he smirked when she gave him the finger.

* * *

**To Be Continued...**


	2. Killing Loneliness

_A/N: Thank you for the three people who reviewed. I know this story is different and that a lot of people don't exactly know what to think of it but let me tell you I'll explain everything in the story. Please let me know what you guys think of this chapter :)

* * *

_

Chapter 2. Killing Loneliness

When school was finally over Dylan jogged to his car, ignoring his friends that were calling after him. He was tired and sure as hell not in the mood to talk; he just wanted to be alone and listen to his music for a while.

As he sped off in the old Mustang that he been given for his sixteen birthday, his thoughts were on a certain gorgeous girl. She was being a bitch to him, always saying harsh things but still he admired her. The girl had so much power over the school; she was popular and everyone knew her and her reputation. She could care less about the school rules or the teachers; she was always running late and had to go to detention almost daily.

She wasn't a cheerleader, she wasn't that smart but she sure as hell wasn't shallow or dumb, she was just… He had no idea how to describe her in one word. He had no idea how to act around her, now he acted like his 'normal' cocky self but that was not the real him. He wished he could be different around her; he wished she could see the real Dylan.

Of course, that wasn't an option. She would laugh at him and tell the whole school that he wasn't the confident jock everyone knew, but a complete loser who listened to alternative music and read books written by dead guys.

The worst part was that he liked her, and that she hated him. At least it seemed like she hated him.

When he finally arrived at his house he sighed and took a deep breath before getting out of the car. He approached the door and took out his key before entering his house.

The Roe family wasn't living in a bad neighborhood but it wasn't like they could afford a house next to the Scott's. The place was cramped and crowded with two bedrooms; one for his parents and one for himself, a living room and a small kitchen. The furniture looked used but his mother always made sure it looked clean.

"Hey son, how was school?" Lucas Roe said as he greeted his son with a light slap on his shoulder.

Dylan and his father were pretty close. It wasn't the fact that he was almost the exact replica of Lucas; their personalities were also pretty much identical. He definitely had, however, his mother's bluntness and love for studying. He knew it sounded weird but it was true, he loved to learn something new everyday.

"It was fine." He replied as he grabbed an apple from the fridge.

"You say that every time I ask."

"What? It's true!" Dylan laughed at his father's attempt to be concerned.

"I used to say that to my mother and there was always something on my mind that bothered me." Lucas thought about the times when he was in high school and all the drama he, thankfully, survived.

"Where's mom anyway?"

Lucas shrugged his shoulders clearly not bothered by the fact that he had no idea where his wife was. "I haven't seen her for a few hours."

Dylan frowned at his fathers words. It was becoming stranger by the minute that his father couldn't care less about his mother. Haley always loved to be around him but it wasn't the other way around. In fact, if he was not mistaken, Lucas seemed like he would rather be alone, than around his own wife.

"Aren't you worried?"

"Why should I be worried? I'm sure she's around somewhere. I think you can find her in a shopping mall as always." The pissed off tone was clearly noticeable in his voice.

Dylan nodded his head, a little disappointed in his father's behavior. He knew he was pretty blessed with the family he had but lately he'd been wondering if that was true. It wasn't like his parents were fighting but they just didn't spend so much time together as they did in the past.

"I'm going to play some ball. Do you want to join me?" Lucas asked, already walking to the front door as he picked up a basketball that lay in the hallway.

"Sure."

* * *

As Haley watched her husband and son from her car playing basketball in their backyard she couldn't help but feel a little jealous of their relationship. Besides the fact that Lucas understood his son better than she did, she also wanted to be more than a mother to him. A friend, someone he could talk to without even hesitating to see if he could trust her.

Sighing, she stepped out of the car and walked towards the duo. "Hey, my two favorite guys in the whole world." She said cheerily, an action that made her think about a certain high school friend.

Dylan could see trough his mother's fakeness, but his father didn't seem to notice. Haley kissed Dylan on the cheek and placed a quick kiss on Lucas' lips.

"Hey Mom, where have you been?" He said wiping off the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

She waved it away as if it wasn't important. "Oh, just at the mall."

Lucas gave Dylan a look that said 'I told you so.'

"Did you buy me something?" Dylan said quickly as he ignored his father, hoping that his mother hadn't seen the look.

She grinned as she started grabbing in her bag. Dylan's face lit up as he saw what his mother had bought for him: the newest PlayStation game he had begged for, for almost three weeks.

"Thanks mom!" He said enthusiastically as he gave his mother a quick hug before running inside with the game.

"You are spoiling him way too much." Lucas grunted as he picked up the basketball and took a shot and missed.

"I just wanted to give him something for once. He's doing great at school, he's not in trouble and he has good manners. He's a good guy Luke, he deserved to get this." Haley snapped as she shot her husband a dirty look.

Lucas threw his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I'm not saying you shouldn't give him anything. I'm just saying you shouldn't spoil him."

"You are aware that you are making no sense right?"

"Whatever."

Haley rolled her hazel eyes as she shook her head. "I'm going inside; we're eating dinner at seven."

He ignored his wife, though he had heard her and took another shot. It went right in without touching the rim.

After a few minutes of playing ball by himself, he felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. He grabbed the phone and looked at the caller ID.

"Hey Jake, what's up man?"

"I'm good, good." Jake said a little absent. "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

Lucas laughed. "I knew you weren't calling for just asking me how I am doing." When Jake didn't respond he said quickly, "Yeah sure, what is it?"

"Can I drop Jenny off at your place in about an hour? The institution called and there's something wrong with Peyton and they said to hurry."

Lucas answered with no hesitating. "Of course, but why can't Jenny stay at your place? She's seventeen, I'm sure she can stay at home by herself, she's not a kid anymore you know."

"I know, but I'm worried she'll jump into her car and follow me. She's also wants to know what's wrong with Peyt but I don't want her to worry. And besides, if it's… bad, I don't want her to see it."

"I understand completely, bring her over whenever you want."

"Thanks Luke, I owe you."

"No problem."

* * *

Haley, Lucas and Dylan were eating quietly as they heard the sound of the doorbell. Haley stood up to open up the door, but Lucas placed his hand on her arm, telling her that he would open it.

They both listened to hear who was at the door, and when Dylan recognized Jenny's voice, he smiled widely.

"Hey Jen! I didn't know you were coming over!"

"Neither did I." Replied an annoyed Haley as she shot Lucas a look. "If I knew you were coming over I would have made more food."

Jenny shook her dark curls. "No that's ok, I've already eaten. I'll just wait in the living room till you guys finish dinner."

Three voices spoke up at the same time telling her to sit down. "Nonsense. Come on Jen, join us." Lucas said as he pushed Jenny softly back into her seat.

Taking a seat at the table Jenny studied the family eating dinner. Getting lost in thought she wondered if she would have the same someday. Peyton had been in a mental institution for the past six months and Jenny missed her so much. She missed the jokes during dinner or the quick words they shared during breakfast because they were all too tired to speak.

"How are you holding up Jenny? I know it must be hard for you these days." Haley asked, with a motherly voice.

As much as she appreciated it that Haley was concerned about her, she really didn't want to talk about it. It was still a sore subject and she hoped that Dylan had noticed her pleading look.

Lucky for her, he had.

"I'm finished Mom. Can I show Jenny my new PlayStation game?"

Turning around Haley looked at her husband. When he nodded in approval, she sighed. "Of course, you two have fun."

They left in a hurry leaving husband and wife all alone in the room.

"You shouldn't have asked that." Lucas said quietly as he continued to eat.

"I didn't know she would react that way. I just wanted to know how she was doing; nobody tells me anything these days." Haley huffed as she looked down to avoid eye contact.

"Well you should have known that it's something she doesn't like to talk about."

"She didn't talk to us when they told her Peyton had to go to the institution and she still doesn't talk about it now, I just want her to feel like she can trust us." Haley explained to her husband as she stood up and picked up the plates.

Lucas followed his wife as he also picked up a few plates. "She trusts Dylan, that's for sure."

"Do you think she tells him the truth about how she feels about all of this?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Pretty much all the honest truth telling in the world is done by children, Haley. Dylan is a good friend of hers, I'm pretty positive she tells him the truth."

"But Jenny isn't a child anymore Luke, she's a teenager and although Peyton isn't her biological mother she is still a copy of her. And you know as good as I do how Peyton was when she was younger."

That was the truth and they both knew it. When Peyton was a teenager she was already a little depressed about her mothers death and then later finding out it wasn't her biological mother was something that made her use drugs. She loved to draw, something that Jenny loves too, or Peyton would lock herself up in her bedroom when she didn't want to talk, a thing that Jenny did all the time lately.

Jenny had to deal with a few familiar things, like the whole mother issue. The last time Jenny saw her mother was when she was just an infant. Peyton always had been the mother figure to her, until six months ago, when something just snapped. It was something that turned Jenny's, Peyton's and other Tree Hill residents' worlds upside down.

"Let's just pray that she doesn't turn out like Peyton." Lucas said after a short silence.

They didn't agree with lots of things but this was one of the things where they both thought that they couldn't agree more with one another.

* * *

**To Be Continued...**


	3. La Vie Est Injuste

_A/N: thank you all for the amazing reviews. A lot of people are wondering if the couples are going to end up the way they are now, and well.. You'll find out soon enough. That's all I have to say hehe. Here's the next chapter, hope you all enjoy. Oh and don't forget to review :)_

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Chapter 3. La Vie Est Injuste

As Jenny opened up the front door she immediately noticed that there was something wrong. The house was quiet, more quiet than usual, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Daddy? Are you there?" She asked as she closed the front door and walked towards the living room where she met her father. He was sitting on the couch looking out of the window absent-mindedly. When he heard his daughter he turned around and forced a smile.

"Hey pumpkin, did you have fun at Dylan's house?"

Jenny nodded her head as she sat down next to her father. "Yeah it was fun."

For minutes they just sat in silence as they looked out of the window. It was a beautiful day.

"Was there something wrong with mom?"

She saw her father swallowing hard like he always did when he was about to say something bad. Jenny was now sitting on the edge of her seat, waiting impatiently for her father to tell her the whole story.

He took a deep breath before meeting his daughter's eyes. "Do you know the exact reason is, why your mother is in a mental institution?"

Jenny seemed to be in thought for a while but then all of a sudden she shook her head. "I know that she is depressed and that something inside of her just snapped. But to tell you the truth that's the only thing I know." She said sadly.

"That's my fault Jen; I should have told you what happened that morning." Jake said sheepishly as he looked down at his hands.

"It's ok, I know it's hard for you."

"No it's not okay; you deserve to know what happened." He took another breath before beginning his story. "Peyton's always been a moody person; she's always been a little depressed. After the death of her birth mother, things became worse. She didn't go out anymore, she locked herself up for days in her bedroom, just listening to her music and drawing her feelings on paper, because she didn't know how to show them…"

"Like I do sometimes." Jenny said as she smiled slightly.

"Yeah. But in that time she went through a deep depression. She lost a lot of weight, and she turned to drugs. Again. When I found out about that, I knew I had to do something. So me, and at that time her best friend Brooke, you know… Abigail's mother, sent her to a clinic where she could get help."

"After being there for four months, Peyton was doing better. She had gotten back to her normal weight, she was talking again and things were looking good. After a few weeks she was doing good enough to go home so they released her. Not even a week later, there was a school shooting and she got shot. Lucas had found her and together they went to the hospital."

"I didn't know that." Jenny said with her eyes wide and her mouth open.

"We decided to never tell you about that, we didn't want to scare you. Anyway, after that Peyton just wasn't the same anymore. She went back into her depression. In that time, she lost a lot of her friends and family, because she couldn't deal with everything anymore. She became violent and she didn't want to talk to anyone, an action that drove her friends away. We, Peyton and I, were having more problems than usual. Still, I stayed with her. After a few months it looked like she was doing ok; she had to take her medicine for her depressions but that was it."

"Anyway, six months ago your mother got a phone call from a woman named Catherina, a woman who was her father's current 'girlfriend'. She told her that-"

"-Grandpa died." Jenny finished sadly.

"Yes. That was when she completely freaked out. She became psychotic, she was totally confused about everything; no one could make a normal conversation with her. I tried to calm her down but nothing worked. She started yelling and screaming and she just ran away to the middle of nowhere. I had to look for her for about three hours, but I finally found her."

"Where was she?"

"At her mothers' grave. She wasn't mourning or anything, no she was yelling about things I didn't understand, later I found out she was repeating the same French line over and over again. 'La vie est injuste'."

She wrinkled her nose up in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It means, 'life is unfair'."

Jenny looked down as she fumbled with the hem of her shirt. As much as she wanted to hear the story about Peyton, the truth was hard to except. It made her think about some quote she read; 'Which is better, a lie that may cause a smile or the truth, that may cause a tear?'

A lie sounded so much better right now.

"Then what happened?"

"I took her home and put her in bed after she took a few sleeping pills. As I grabbed them I found a lot more pills than she needed. When I knew she was asleep for sure, I called the hospital and asked for help. I had no idea what to do." Jake said as his voice cracked. Jenny placed a hand on his shoulder to give him comfort.

"They told me to bring her over and the next week, when you were staying at a friends house, I brought her to the institution."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She said now clearly getting upset. Everything was falling into place now.

"I just couldn't bring myself to tell you the story; it was hard for me to share this with anyone but to tell my daughter why her mother was in a mental institution was hard enough."

"I want to visit her." The last time she had seen Peyton was about four months ago and she missed her so much.

Jake nodded his head. "That's understandable, but you know what happened the last time she saw you."

"She cursed at me and yelled at me to go away." Jenny said quietly as she looked down at her hands once again.

"It's not only you sweetie, she does that to everybody. She wants to be alone."

"But I don't understand! She hates to be alone, she always wanted me to sleep next to her when you were gone working for the night. She told me she wanted a dog that could keep her company when I was at school and you were working. She hates to be alone."

As Jenny broke down in tears Jake couldn't do anything but hug his daughter.

* * *

Jenny was walking trough the halls of Tree Hill High looking at the people who were passing by. She was looking for someone and she knew that person shouldn't be to find considering she was one of the popular girls in school.

After the bell rang, and Jenny still hadn't found her, she sighed as she went to her locker with a grumpy look on her face. Just as she was about to walk to her next class, she heard Abigail's name being called.

Abigail and her followers were walking a few feet away from Jenny and they were laughing about something.

Knowing that this was her only chance, Jenny walked towards them, blocking their way. "Hey Abigail, can I talk to you for a minute?"

The girls behind Abigail looked at her as if she were some kind of freak, but they didn't say anything, unsure of what Abigail was going to say. So they just waited with an amused glint in their eyes. It was true that Jenny was a year older then them, but Abigail and her clique had so much more power in school than she had.

"Because?" Abigail snickered.

Jenny rolled her eyes at her. "I know we aren't friends or anything, but I just wanted to ask you something."

"Fine." She huffed as she waved her friends away.

They stood there in silence as they waited until Abigail's friends were gone. Turning around to face Jenny, Abigail raised an eyebrow as she took a good glance at the girl in front of her. Her long, brown, curly hair was hanging loose over her shoulders, covering half of the T-shirt she was wearing.

"You like Dashboard Confessional?" She said as she pointed at her shirt.

Jenny nodded her head quickly, not bothering to cover up the fact that she didn't want to talk about clothes or bands. "Yeah, anyway I wanted to ask you something."

"I know, you already told me that."

She rolled her eyes again at Abigail. That girl thought her snappy comebacks did something to her. What a joke.

"Right. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something about your mother."

Abigail blinked a few times as if she didn't hear it right. Why the hell did this girl want to know something about her mother? As if she was interested in her mother's life.

"What about my mother?" Abigail asked now clearly annoyed by the girl in front of her.

Jenny wrinkled her nose up in confusion. "No need to get nasty."

"I just don't understand why you want to ask me something about her. It's not like you know her or anything."

"I'm sensing you two don't get along very well?"

"You're quick." She shot back sarcastically. "Just pop the question girl."

Jenny didn't know if now was the right time to ask Abigail the question, or if Abigail was the right person to ask for that matter. If she and her mother didn't get along than it was probably a waste of time to ask it. But Jenny, being a curious girl, didn't care if she didn't get the right answers or not. It was better knowing something that nothing at all.

"Did you know that your mom and my mom were best friends in high school?"

"No, I didn't know that. Why are you telling me this anyway?"

"It's just that…" Jenny trailed off for a moment then looked up at her curiously, "I don't know a lot about my mother and my dad told me last night that your mom and my mom were friends in high school and I just that there was a possibility that you knew more about their friendship."

Her brain was already forming some sort of bitchy answer but Abigail decided against it and remained quiet.

"Abigail?"

Abigail shook her head and looked up at Jenny, who was looking at her with two raised eyebrows. "Are you ok?" Abigail nodded but still didn't say anything.

"So I guess you don't know anything about their friendship?" Jenny asked again.

The quiet Abigail disappeared and was now replaced by the bitchy one. "No, and to be honest, I don't give a damn about their friendship. I hate my mother so I don't care about her past, nor her future."

Jenny was taken back by Abigail's harsh words and didn't say anything when Abigail said, "I have class, if you'll excuse me."

"Yeah, it was nice to talk to you too." Jenny said to herself as she walked towards her classroom.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	4. The Lady Is A Vamp

A:N/ I only got one review, so I'm thinking that or nobody really likes the story or people are just too lazy to review. Of course I'm not only writing because of the reviews, but I have to admit that they inspire me to write more. Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter :)  
Love,  
Helen

* * *

Chapter 4. The Lady Is A Vamp

Nathan Scott smiled as the taxi pulled to a stop in front of his house. He paid the cab driver and smiled wider as he looked through the window. His beautiful wife stood in the living room making a phone call. Rolling his eyes playfully he opened up the front door.

"Hey hun, I'm home!"

He could hear her saying a 'bye' quickly into the phone as she hung up. "Nathan! You're home!"

She wrapped her arms around his neck as she gave him a lingering kiss. "I've missed you so much." She whispered against his lips before kissing him again.

"I can tell." Nathan said grinning.

Brooke pulled him closer. "I had no idea that you were coming back. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise both of you. Where is Abby anyway?" He looked around in search of his daughter causing Brooke's eyes to darken. Her arms loosened their grip on his neck and Nathan immediately noticed that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?"

The brunette shook her head and forced a smile. "Nothing sweetie. Uhm... I have to make an important phone call. Why don't you go look for Abigail, okay?"

Nathan frowned in surprise. "You don't know where she is?"

Already walking away Brooke shrugged her shoulders letting him know that she had no idea, nor did she care. He followed her with his eyes until she was out of sight before grabbing his suitcase and taking it upstairs.

Knocking on his daughter's bedroom door, he waited for a reply but he didn't get any. "Abby, are you in here?" He still didn't get an answer.

"Brooke! Baby, do you have any idea where Abigail is?"

He could make out a vague 'no!' as he heard her again talking on her cell phone. Since when was Brooke so uninterested in her daughter? He had only been home for a few minutes and he was already alone.

As Nathan came down the stairs he saw the front door open, followed by his beautiful daughter Abigail Danneel Scott. She was taller and more beautiful than he had remembered - perfect skin, perfect hair, perfect bone structure and the perfect body.

Her surprised face made him smile. "Daddy!" Abigail let go of her bags and ran towards her father who invited her with open arms.

Brooke, who was still talking on the phone, shot a look to father and daughter. Her eyes turned dark as she stopped talking. It was hard for her to look at the smile Nathan gave his daughter, but seeing Abigail smile like that was even harder to look at. She looked genuinely happy and it made Brooke want to gag.

"Hey sweetheart. Did I surprise you?"

"Yeah you did! I had no idea you were coming back." She turned to face Brooke with a fake smile plastered on her face. "Did you know he was coming back, _Mother_?"

"Of course not." It came out more bitchy and snappy than she attended to. So Brooke let out a light laugh that was laced with just a slight twinge of venom as she closed her eyes for a second before adding, "Your father wanted to surprise the both of us."

Nathan didn't notice the tension between Brooke and Abigail, so he said happily, "I'm glad I surprised the both of you. Now let's go to the living room - I brought presents."

Abigail grabbed her father's hand as he led the way to the living room. Brooke followed behind them and catching her daughter's eye for a few seconds. Narrowing her eyes at Abigail she let out a snarl before shaking her head. She had to be the perfect wife and that meant no bickering.

"Are you ready for your presents?" Nathan asked excitedly as he looked from his wife to Abigail.

"Yes!" They both said in union.

* * *

"Daddy, did you know that Mother and Jenny's mom were friends in high school?" Abigail asked once they were driving back home from spending the day at 'Six Flags'.

The question that Jenny asked Abigail had been spinning in her mind for quite some time. It wasn't like she was interested in her mother but she was interested in her past. When Jenny had said that she knew little about her mother, Abigail found out that she was the same way. She knew nothing about her mother, partly because she hated her and that was why she could care less about her.

But had her mother always been like she was now? Did she like to drink back in high school? And why didn't she talk to her old friends anymore?

Nathan seemed quite surprised to hear that question. "Yeah, they were best friends even."

"Why don't they see each other anymore?"

Her father kept his eyes on the road as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "What's with all the questions, Abby?"

"I just want to know something about Mother's past." Abigail shrugged. It was the truth.

"Do you know that you always refer to Brooke as 'Mother', but you refer Peyton as 'mom'?"

Abigail knew what he meant with the question but she played dumb. "Who is Peyton?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Just answer the question."

Nathan rolled his eyes at her. She was just like her mother sometimes. "Peyton is Jenny's mom, like you already knew… And now you answer the question."

"I just think it's polite to call her mother."

"I think that is the biggest bullshit I've ever heard."

"Whatever." Abigail said as she crossed her arms and looked outside. She didn't want to talk about it anymore. The real reason why she was calling Brooke 'mother' and not 'mom' was only because it pissed Brooke off and because Brooke always called her by her full name while Nathan had nicknames for her.

It was as if the names brought some sort of distance between them and that was exactly what they both wanted.

"Is there something going on between the two of you?"

"You think?" Abigail asked sarcastically before she even realized what she just had said.

"Want to talk about it?"

Putting on her fake smile she said, "Nope, I'm fine."

* * *

Brooke sat on the couch staring at the television but she wasn't really looking. Nathan had taken Abigail out to some theme park for the day and now she was all alone in her big house once again. Of course Nathan had asked her to come with them but she just didn't feel like spending a day on a bunch of rollercoaster.

Thinking about how little Brooke had actually seen Nathan since he'd arrived home, she let out a groan of frustration. He always did this, leaving right after he got home. As she turned away from the television, her cell phone caught her eye. She hesitated, biting her lip and not two seconds later she'd grabbed it and was dialing the oh-so familiar number.

Waiting until he answered the phone, she bit her bottom lip again. Finally, after about 30 seconds he answered. "Hello?"

Her voice sounded hoarse and groggy. "Hey, it's me."

"Brooke? Why are you calling me in the middle of the day? You know we always meet at night." He sounded a little frustrated but Brooke could hear the delight in his voice. She knew he was happy that she had called.

She sighed. "I know, but… I wanted to see you."

Now it was his turn to sigh. "You know I can't leave right now."

"Just make up some lame excuse. I'm sure your wife will buy it." Brooke's snappy tone revealing that she was jealous.

"Don't be like this, Brooke."

Brooke tossed her head back against the couch, letting out a dramatic huff. "You know, Lucas, I'm not the type of person who likes to beg when she wants something."

"Trust me, I know." He murmured.

"And it's not like I'm the only one who wants this."

"I know."

"Then what is the problem!" She spat, her anger on the rise. Of course she knew he couldn't leave like that but that wasn't her problem. If she had to be alone in this house for more than an hour she knew she would lose it.

"I can't just leave the house; Haley will get suspicious."

As much as she wanted to say 'screw Haley', she remained calm and took a deep breath. A smile forming on her lips when she got an idea. "You know where I am right now Luke?"

The way she said it, in her sexy hoarse tone, made him curious but scared at the same time. "No?"

"I'm lying in my bedroom on my queen sized bed. And do you know what I'm wearing?" She could hear him gasp and it made her smile evilly. Of course none of it was true but he didn't have to know that.

If Lucas already had wide eyes, then his eyes must be bulging out of his head right now. He knew she was playing a dangerous game and he loved every minute of it.

Brooke had always been the girl who was sexy and gorgeous and knew exactly how to deal with her sexuality. They had dated on and off in high school until they'd decided it wouldn't work out.

But that didn't mean that they'd stopped having sex with each other. After two weeks of being 'friends with benefits', they decided to break it off completely. He was hurt and so was she. With tears in her eyes she'd headed to California for the summer while he stayed with Haley, Jake, Peyton and Nathan in Tree Hill.

Haley and Nathan, who were dating at that time, were also having problems. As were Peyton and Jake. Peyton, Jake and baby Jenny left the little drama town behind to deal with their problems in a quiet town near Charleston.

However with Nathan and Haley things weren't really looking on the bright side. They got in a huge fight and after Haley screamed to stay the hell away from her, Nathan left to California. To Brooke. He had called her and she had offered to let him stay with her.

That was the summer when everything had changed. Lucas and Haley were the only ones left in Tree Hill and on one drunken night they'd slept together. The day after they both had known it was a mistake. Lucas claimed to love Brooke while Haley was still in love with Nathan.

They never said one more word about it.

But when the end of the summer was nearing, Nathan and Brooke came back. While holding hands, big smiles plastered on their faces they claimed to be in love. They'd realized that they were the perfect couple. She was the head cheerleader and he was the captain of the basketball team. He was the most popular guy in school and she was the most popular girl in school.

And on top of it all, she was pregnant.

It wasn't long after that when Haley told Lucas that she was also pregnant.

"Lucas? Is it so hard to think about what I'm wearing while I'm laying in bed?" Brooke's irritated voice woke him up from his thoughts.

"Pajamas?"

It was a good thing he couldn't see her because she was rolling her eyes in frustration at him. "No I'm wearing nothing you idiot! You know what, I'm not even in the mood for you to come over. Call me when you're not thinking about other things." With that she hung up the phone.

Perhaps even these things, one day, will be pleasing to remember.

* * *

**To Be Continued.**


	5. Loose Another Day

**A/N: hey everyone, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever. I don't want to bore you with my excuses, so here's the next chapter. Thanks for everyone who reviewed and let me know what you think about this update:)  
PS: I won't update for about a month, because I'm going on holiday to France so I don't have internet or a computer for that matter. Anyway.. the update, enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 5. Lose Another Day

Dylan really did love the school library. Next to the music store, it was his favorite place to visit when he just wanted to be alone. He could go and spend hours getting lost in the stacks of books, feeding his lust for knowledge. However, today wasn't a normal day where he could read just for the fun of it.

He had to sit for two hours in detention class.

Only now the class was replaced by the word library. He wasn't the only one who got a detention slip, so the class was full and that was the reason why he was sitting here.

Not that he minded, reading books while the old librarian was keeping an eye on him wasn't exactly what you could call punishment.

He glanced at his watch for what seemed the hundredth time when a voice caught his attention. "Yes I promise I'll behave myself, Mr. Whatever your name is." Abigail grumbled as she threw her bag over her shoulder.

Dylan couldn't help but smile when he saw her; he should have known she would be here. As he caught her eye, he sent her a friendly smile but she gave him a dirty look.

"Oh this is just great, not only do I have to spend my detention in this old place that smells funky but I also have to spend it with you." Rolling her eyes as she sat in her seat with a loud huff, she added, "Just kill me now."

He took this as an opportunity to finally have a conversation with her, taking a seat beside her before looking at the librarian if she had seen it. When he saw that she wasn't paying attention to any of them, he glared at Abigail as she stared back at him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm taking a seat beside you."

She rolled her eyes at him. "No shit dumbass, I mean why are you doing this?"

"I thought maybe we could talk or something. You know, when you are having fun the time passes by quicker."

"Does it look like I'm having fun?" Abigail knew she was being a major bitch but at the time she could care less. She was pissed and moody and she didn't have the time to deal with him.

"You are quite moody today."

"Just because I'm moody doesn't mean you're not irritating." She spat as she shifted in her seat so that she was looking him in the eye.

He threw his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I never said I wasn't irritating."

"Whatever."

"Why don't you tell me something funny, I am kind of bored."

She gave him a sarcastic smile as she said, "Oh cry me a river and drown in it!"

Dylan clapped his hands as if he was impressed. "See, that was a reasonable joke."

"It wasn't meant to be funny." Abigail grunted through her teeth.

He just ignored her comment. "Ok, now I guess it's my turn to say something funny." He was silent for a while and Abigail guessed that he was trying to think of something.

"Ok, so when I get real bored, I like to drive downtown and get a great parking spot. Then I just sit in the car and count how many people ask me if I'm leaving."

She stifled a laugh. "That is ridiculous."

"You thought it was funny." He laughed as he saw her face. She just shook it off as she pretended to do some homework.

After a while of complete silence he asked in a serious tone, "Do you like me?"

"You know Dylan, if we were still in kindergarten, I'd say that you have a crush on me and it would be cute. But since we are not, I'd say that you are being quite desperate right now."

"I guess that's a no." He mumbled as he opened his book again and started to read. She watched him with a suspicious look on her face. As if he could feel her eyes on him, he turned around to face her.

"What?"

"Since when do _you_ read?"

He didn't try to hide his somber tone, "Since always. You just don't know anything about me."

* * *

Haley knew she was making a big mistake but she couldn't help herself. It was if someone forced her to go there, but at the same time she knew she was doing it all by herself.

She could deny it all she wanted but in her head she knew it was true, Haley James-Roe was a curious person. Good hearted, but curious.

So when she heard that Peyton Jagielski was admitted into an institution, she couldn't help herself but being curious. What was the reason she was there? Why hadn't anyone told her that?

Poor Jenny didn't want to talk about it; she'd rather hide her feelings. As much as Haley wanted to help her, she knew she couldn't. And Dylan was being a good friend, which meant that he kept his mouth shut.

And then there was Jake. They weren't good friends or anything, but he was still a regular face around their house. He had always been good friends with Lucas so that was the reason why he was still coming over. But he didn't talk to her, he talked to Lucas.

Sadly for her, Lucas didn't tell her anything anymore.

Nobody told her a damn thing anymore.

It was as if Haley had lost all her friends over the past years. Lucas Roe, her best friend since forever. Best friends who shared a kid together. Best friends who couldn't handle the truth about Nathan and Brooke. Best friends who weren't in love, but only stayed together because it was the right thing to do.

There was a time though, that Haley felt something else besides friendship towards Lucas. She didn't exactly know if it was love, but it sure as hell was more than just friendship. At that day Haley didn't look at Lucas and see just her best friend, she looked at him and saw a handsome guy with the most beautiful blue eyes.

Unfortunately for her, Lucas had never felt the same way for her. Or at least that's what she thought.

Then there was Brooke Davis, who married Haley's first love, who married the man who she'd always been in love with. She and Brooke had been fighting about everything when Haley had found out Nathan was in love with Brooke. And that's why she had broke contact with her. She hadn't expected that this also would break contact with Nathan.

At last but not least, there was Peyton, the girl who had sent her friends away. The girl who had always been depressed. The girl who turned to drugs for help. The girl that needed saving but for Peyton, that was the last thing she needed.

And now everyone knew her as the girl who was in a mental institution, or a psychiatric hospital, as Jake like to call it.

Haley shook her head to make her thoughts go away as she looked at the building in front of her. With a deep breath while running her hand trough her hair, Haley went in.

Walking straight to the reception, not even bothering to look around, Haley stared at the friendly looking receptionist.

"Hello, uhm… I'm here to visit a patient. Her name is Peyton Jagielski and I don't know in which room she is staying."

The women finally looked up. "I'm sorry miss, but general visiting hours are between noon and 8:30 p.m. Unless you are a family member, you'll have to wait for…" She took a glance at the clock that was hanging on the wall, "…twenty more minutes."

"Ok, where am I suppose to wait?" Haley asked as she took a first look around the building.

"You are welcome to wait in the concourse. It's on your left."

"Thank you."

* * *

Twenty minutes seemed like ages, not that it bothered Haley at all. As she waited she took a few glances at the people who were visiting patients. It surprised her that many or most patients wore everyday clothes rather than patient examination garments.

The visitors were respectful of other patients and they were all as quiet as possible.

As Haley glanced at her watch she let out a sigh. It was time.

When the friendly receptionist had finished explaining the rules, she stood up and walked up the stairs. Haley quickly followed the lady who was walking, in her opinion, way too fast.

They went into a hallway and Haley read the sign that said, 'Progressive Treatment Unit'. Great, now she was feeling nauseous.

The women suddenly stopped by a red door with the number 23 on it. Haley had to laugh at the irony of it; she had that number tattooed on her lower back.

"Hello Peyton, there's a visitor for you. She says she's an old friend of yours."

Haley wished she could see her face light up because she could hear the clearly happy but surprised voice that said, "Brooke?"

"No, her name is Haley. Can she come in?"

It was silent for a while as Haley waited in anticipation. The women next to her stepped aside with a smile on her face which meant that she could come in.

Closing the door softly behind her, Haley took a first glance at the room as she gasped. Hundreds of drawings were hanging at the wall, from the ground to the ceiling. It was like one big wallpaper.

Haley recognized lots of them from the past; there were a few about the love-triangle Brooke, Peyton and Lucas had ages ago. Next to those drawings was one with Jake and little Jenny in his arms. But there were also a lot pictures Haley hadn't seen before. Drawings with 'Crazy Peyton' or 'Drugs are worth the Trouble, right?' It was quite sad to look at.

When she heard someone clear her voice, Haley turned around to look at Peyton. The blonde girl looked the same, yet she was so different. Her hair wasn't shiny anymore; she had huge bangs under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept in weeks. She was thin, practically an Ally McBeal.

"Hey Peyton, do you recognize me? It's me, Haley."

Peyton scoffed as she stared at the women in front of her until she knew she was making Haley feel uncomfortable. "I'm not crazy Haley, of course I remember you."

The way Haley was looking at her made Peyton roll her eyes in frustration. "Ok, I'm not exactly a normal person, but that doesn't mean I'm having problems with my memory."

Haley nodded her head slowly before sitting down in a chair, opposite Peyton. "How are you Peyton, are things getting better?"

"I'm healing, dealing, whatever you want to call it. I just want to get the fk out of here."

"Are you expecting more visitors?" She had no idea how to make a normal conversation with the blonde.

With her eyes on the ground and her head hanging down she said, "I don't want to see anyone."

"Not even Jake or Jenny?" At the mention of their names Haley could see Peyton shiver, but she never showed any emotion.

Shaking her sagged curls she replied in boredom, "Nope."

"Why me?"

"What are you babbling about?" Her snappy voice was something that made Haley wince.

"Why did you let me in? Why did you want to see me?"

All of a sudden Peyton stood up and grabbed Haley forcefully by the arm. With a scared look on her face she locked her eyes with Peyton's. Peyton's eyes were practically bulging out of her head and that scared Haley even more.

"You have to get me out of here." She said in a tone that was so low and hoarse but at the same time high and pitchy. A voice that Haley didn't recognize as Peyton's.

* * *

**To Be Continued..**


	6. The Past Is Our Future

**A:N/ I'm sorry that it took me a while to update but here it is, hope you all like it. Feedback love. :)**

Chapter 6. The Past Is Our Future

Jenny kissed her father on the cheek before grabbing her bag and leaving for school. "Bye Dad! I'll see you around three!"

Jake smiled as he watched his daughter leave. "Bye Honey, have fun at school." He could see her smile turn into a frown and he had to suppress a laugh. He shook his head as he went inside the house. School and fun; yeah right.

As he sat down on the couch, he let out a deep sigh. Yesterday he had got a surprising call from his boss. He worked at an insurance company which was a decent job for someone who had no diploma whatsoever. It was a boring job but at least he could take good care of Jenny now.

The sad thing was that his boss called him yesterday to fire him. The guy had said something about too many employees and since Jake was the one with no diploma his boss had no other choice but to fire him.

What was he supposed to do now? With no job and Peyton in the psychiatric hospital it was impossible to live a normal life now.

He hadn't told Jenny anything, he didn't want to scare her for nothing. He would find another job and then Jenny didn't even have to know that he was fired. Maybe Lucas knew someone who could give him a job.

Dialing Lucas number, he waited for him to pick up the phone. He heard Haley's voice on their voicemail. "Hey, you've reached the Roe residence, we're not home, leave a message if you want or call Lucas' cell phone."

Jake wasn't in the mood to leave a message so he called Lucas' cell phone. Lucky for him, he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" It sounded like he was a little pissed that someone called him. Like he was in the middle of something and he didn't want to be interrupted.

"Hey Luke, it's me."

"Jake! What's up man?"

He hesitated, wondering if this really was the right time to tell Lucas about his job- or if it was a good idea to ask Lucas for a favor at all. The last few months he'd asked many times for help with Jenny or with other things and as much as he appreciated it, he hated it. He wanted to solve his problems by himself; he didn't want to ask people for help.

But right now he had no other option.

"Can we talk? Or are you busy with something cause then I'll call you back."

It was true. Lucas was busy with something but Jake's serious tone didn't sound too good so he said, "It's fine. So what's up?"

"I'm not that good man, I got fired." He didn't mean to blurt it out like that but he couldn't help himself.

It was silent for a while. "Oh jeez, that's bad. What happened?"

"Too many employees, my boss couldn't afford them anymore and with no diploma I didn't stand a chance. So they kicked me out."

"What are you going to do?"

Jake sighed and ran a hand trough his hair in desperation. "I don't know. It's impossible to raise Jenny with no money… With the money we have saved we can barely make it through the next three months so basically, I'm screwed."

"Maybe I can help you with finding a new job. I can go to my boss and ask if he needs a new employee. And you can always go to my mom, I'm sure she'll give you a job at the café. I know it's not the best but it's a start."

"Thanks man, you have no idea how much I appreciate this. I owe you."

"No problem, I know how hard this must be for you so I'm glad I can help my friend out."

"Yeah. So, I'm going to look for some jobs on the internet and in the newspaper, maybe I can find something else if your plan doesn't work."

"Good idea. I'll call you later okay?"

"Ok, bye. And thanks again."

As soon as Jake hung up the phone he grabbed a pen and the morning newspaper. He didn't seem to notice Jenny, who was standing behind him at the front door.

She'd forgot her lunch and when she heard her father talking on the phone, she decided to eavesdrop a little. Of course that was a bad habit but when she had heard the word 'fired', she was in some kind of shock. Without moving she'd heard everything her father had said.

What's going to happen now?

--------------------------------------------

"Ms. Jagielski, please pay attention the next lesson or I'll have to send you to the headmasters office." Jenny's teacher said at the end of the lesson.

Jenny only nodded her head slowly as if she had heard the teacher. As if she cared. As if she wanted to hear his words right now.

School was over and for some weird reason she didn't want it to end. It meant that she had to go back to her home, to face her father. Would he tell her the news? Or, more than likely, would he leave out that little fact?

Her father still treated her like she was some four year old and that annoyed the crap out of her. Like she couldn't handle the truth.

Walking home in her own thoughts with her face on the ground, she bumped straight into somebody. When she realized what had just happened, she was already lying on the street.

Looking up, she saw Abigail also lying on the ground. "I'm sorry, I wasn't really paying attention where I was walking."

"That's ok, it's my fault too." To Jenny's surprise, Abigail actually sounded like she meant what she said.

Crawling up to her feet, Jenny forced a smile and started walking away. There wasn't more to say anyway.

"Hey Jenny?" The other girl turned around to face Abigail with a surprised look on her face. "I'm sorry for being a bitch to you when you asked me about our moms. I didn't know she was in an institution so I owe you an apology."

"I never told you that." Jenny whispered.

Abigail wanted to say 'what?' but after a few seconds she knew what Jenny was talking about. "Yeah, uh, my dad told me." Talk about awkward.

This caught Jenny's full attention. "You talked to your dad about my mom?"

"Not exactly. Well, actually, yeah. The question you asked me during school kept spinning in my head so instead of asking my mother about it, I asked my dad. There's a lot of history between all of our parents." Abigail smirked.

"What do you mean?"

The Scott girl began laughing. And not just one laugh, but she began laughing hysterically. Jenny looked at her as if she was some crazy person. "What?" Jenny had to admit that there was some kind of amused tone in her own voice.

"My dad, and your mom… Dated in high school." She said like it was the funniest thing ever.

Jenny cracked a laugh too. "Are you serious?"

Walking towards the other girl she placed a hand on her shoulder. "I am dead serious. At first my dad didn't want to say anything about it but me, being the annoying daughter, didn't want to drop it till he spilled. They had some kind of I-Only-Want-You-For-The-Awesome-Sex relationship."

As she saw Jenny's face forming in a frown, Abigail quickly added, "Don't worry, your mom dumped him."

The Jenny who had joined laughing at first, was now replaced by a darkened face. "She's not my biological mother, she's just someone who replaced my birth mother. She can rot in the place she's in now; it's not that I care anyways."

Abigail frowned. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing! Just leave me alone like you normally do. And stop talking about my mother with your father or anyone else ok? It's not your damn business. Just ignore me, you're good at that."

Storming off with tears in her eyes, Jenny left a speechless Abigail alone.

-----------------------------------------------

"Is it true dad? Is it true that Mom dated Abigail's father in High School? And that they had some kind of relationship based on sex!" Jenny needed answers. She didn't care if she was rambling or that she wasn't making sense at all. Or the fact that her father was looking at her as if he had seen a ghost. She just wanted answers.

"Who told you that?"

"Some girl at school." She decided to skip the part that she had heard it from Abigail herself.

"Abigail?"

She'd always been bad at lying. And, there was no point lying now. "Yes."

Jake nodded his head slowly. "Yes, it's true. But your mother was also co-captain of the cheerleading squad back then. She was also best friends with Brooke Davis, like you know too."

"And your point is?"

"I guess what I want to say is, your mother has changed. When I met her she wasn't the cheerleading type. Hell, she's never been that kind of person. She didn't sleep with random guys, or have relationships with guys only for the sex. Nathan and Peyt were really in love when they'd started dating. But Nathan was a jock and an ass and he still is that way." He mumbled the last part before saying, "It's a good thing that he married Brooke."

"What was the last thing you said? I didn't quite catch that." She said with sarcasm in her voice. It wasn't like her to be this mad bitch to her dad but she couldn't take it anymore. The pain about her mother in the institution, her father still not telling her about the unemployed part, or finding out that her mother was practically a slut during High School.

"Jen…" He sounded almost pleading, "…Don't do that. Don't be mad at me for not liking Nathan, or Brooke for that matter. They did some crappy things to Uncle Luke and to your mother and even to Haley."

"What kind of stuff? Tell me dad, I'm a big girl. I can handle the truth."

Jake didn't like it one bit how she'd said the word truth. Did she know something? He decided to ignore it and wondered what the best thing was to tell her.

"Like you know, your mother was depressed during High School-"

"She still is depressed."

"You know what I mean. Back then, when she was depressed, she felt for Lucas. But Lucas was in love with Brooke. Peyton was so angry at Brooke just for the fact that she was the girl who Lucas loved. So Peyton wanted to break all contact with Brooke and Brooke accepted that."

"I don't understand why that has anything to do with the fact that you don't like Brooke."

"She gave up on Peyton, Jen! She knew Peyt was depressed and still she left her best friend."

Jenny was silent for a while and then she said, "I don't care what you believe Dad, but in my opinion that's not Brooke's fault. Mom is the one who send all her friends away, including Brooke. Mom is the one who felt for Lucas, while she knew he loved Brooke. You can't just blame Brooke for all of this."

Jake shook his head. "You don't know the whole story."

"Well that's not my fault, is it?" Jenny asked her dad before running away towards her bedroom, and for the second time, leaving someone speechless behind.

-----------------------

**To Be Continued.**


	7. Trough The Barricades

_Hey everyone. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever. I don't know if people are still reading this story but for those who do, I love you, haha. Let me know what you think about this chapter. xoxo_

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Chapter 7. Trough the Barricades

Abigail got home quite confused after the whole Jenny incident. While throwing her bag in the hallway her thoughts drifted to Jenny's anger ramble. When Abigail had told her about the mom-dad-dating part, Jenny had started laughing. When she had told her about the sex part, Jenny had freaked out.

It wasn't like it was some big deal. People had those kind of relationships all the time. As much as people thought that she was the type of girl who always screwed around with different guys, all of that wasn't true. Yes, she liked to have fun. Yes, she liked to tease guys with her sexy appearance. Yes, she liked to party and make out with random guys from time to time, but she wasn't a slut.

She knew all about her mothers reputation. And about her fathers. She had heard it so many times that it started to piss her off. Now being on the same school as her parents had been was even more annoying. Some old teachers always stereotyped her as a person that was shallow or dumb, that always skipped lessons and that failed for almost all her classes. Only the skipping school part was true, and that was just because she thought school was boring and way too easy.

She starting laughing because of the fact that her mind could drift so easily from someone else to herself. In some kind of way all her thoughts always ended about herself.

She was pretty proud of herself. And she wasn't afraid to admit that.

Walking towards the living room, she could hear the sound of her mothers voice clearly. She was of course making 'important' phone calls. Figures.

Abigail rolled her eyes and made sure her mother didn't hear her. It was always fun to eavesdrop a phone conversation for a little while.

Standing a little closer, Abigail heard her mother say, "You want to go to our beach house in Charleston? Are you completely insane?"

With a frown on her face Abigail listened further, slightly hating the fact that she couldn't hear the voice on the other side of the line. "I guess… It's not like I owe you something or anything. Yeah, I know. I think I can pay a visit tomorrow, but I'll have to take care of a nanny first. I can't leave my daughter alone in the house with Nathan gone all the damn time, no doubt that she's going to throw a party or whatever… Jesus the things I do for you."

Abigail rolled her eyes again. Right, as if she wanted to threw a party in her own damned house. Like she wanted to clean up all the puke and empty cups. Her mother probably thought she was some kind of party animal.

"But what do I have to tell Nathan? I don't want him to get suspicious." Brooke lowered her voice and quickly scanned the room, afraid as if someone was listening. Abigail quickly turned away.

"Yeah, I'll call you tomorrow or something. Bye."

Brooke walked out of the living room and saw Abigail standing there with a look on her face that scared the crap out of her. "How long have you been standing here?" She snapped as she leaned in till they were on the same eye level.

"Oh I just walked in and I heard you talking."

"You just love to eavesdrop don't you." Her mother murmured more to herself than to Abigail. "What did you hear?" Brooke asked as she narrowed her eyes in on Abigail. What if she had heard something?

"Just that you're going to call that somebody tomorrow." Abigail lied trough her teeth. "Who was that anyway?"

"Non of your damn business. Now go to your room and hug your stuffed animals or something." Her mother said as she hurried to the kitchen.

It was as if Abigail couldn't stop rolling her eyes at her mother. Stuffed animals. _Right_.

* * *

When school was finally over and Dylan had arrived at his place, he had a run in with the last person he had expected. As he watched her getting up from the porch, she said calmly, "Hi Dylan."

On the first hand he wasn't in the mood to deal with Abigail right now. The bitchy and sarcastic comments were starting to piss him off. But on the other hand, he was curious as hell about why she'd come here and he wanted to just turn around and hear what the girl had to say. That and of course the fact that he liked her and this was his chance to talk to her again.

"What are you doing here?"

Abigail wasn't taken back by the snappy tone from Dylan, surprisingly it was as if she was expecting it.

"There's something I want to tell you. It includes my mother and your father."

Dylan raised an eyebrow as he eyed Abigail suspiciously. "What about them?"

The other girl hesitated a second before grabbing Dylan by the arm. Looking trough the window to see if there was anyone home watching hem, she dragged him to his garden where no one could see them. She turned around with a look in her eyes that scared Dylan but intrigued him at the same time.

"I think-I think there's something going on between your father and my mother." Her eyes were searching for some kind of reaction but Dylan did not even flinch.

About ten seconds of just staring at each other, Dylan said, "I don't believe you Abigail." He shook his head and started to walk off. "I'm not in the mood for your shit right now."

"Do you think I'm kidding right now? Do you really think I would grab your arm and drag you all over here to tell you some fucking joke?" She hissed clearly pissed off.

This caught Dylan's attention back to the girl. Turning around he said, "Ok, why the hell do you think my dad is cheating on my mom with _your_ mom? That doesn't make any sense."

"I heard my mother talking on the phone and she was saying 'I don't want Nathan to get suspicious' and all that crap."

"Right." He said clearly unimpressed. "So maybe your mom is cheating, but not with my dad."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Your father and my mother were having a serious relationship during their High School time. I know my mother can be the cheating type, so your dad is the first I could think of. It makes all the sense of the world. She gets lonely because my dad is always gone, and your dad is still in love with her!"

"Your mom may be a slut Abigail, but my father sure as hell isn't a cheater." He said calmly.

Abigail decided to ignore his last comment. "Tell me Dylan, does your father really loves your mother? Do they laugh together as much as they used to? Is your dad acting weird in front of your mom? And oh how about this, didn't he cheat on my mother when they were younger?"

He was silent. He knew what she was saying was true, but he didn't want to believe any of it. His dad would never do such thing to his mom.

"Your daddy dearest was totally in love with my mother for ages, who says that hasn't changed?"

"Fuck you Abigail! You don't know anything about my father or my mother or about love for that matter! My mom and dad love each other and they are happy together. So shut the fuck up and leave me alone ok? And mind your own business for God's sake!" He yelled as he stormed off.

Before he had the chance to slam the front door close, Abigail called after him, "they're going to meet each other tomorrow in our beach house in Charleston. I don't know about you, but I know I want to catch them in the act. I have no idea how I'm going to do it, but I know I need your help."

He had stopped and she was sure he'd heard her words, but after she was done he just walked straight to the front door. She watched him go. Of course he was hurt, weirdly enough so was she, but she felt like she owned him the truth. Hopefully we was going to help her tomorrow, cause she didn't know if she could handle the truth alone.

* * *

Nathan walked down the stairs with a dreamy look on his face. He had just took a long shower that always made him feel good. He was a good looking, hard working man but he was under a lot of stress. Showers made him think about his lovely wife and daughter, about how much he loved them and how blessed he was with such a great family.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs his dreamy face turned into a frown. Seeing his wife standing with a suitcase in her left hand, and a purse in the other made him wonder what the hell was up with her.

"Going somewhere?"

Brooke turned around as her cheeks turned red. "Oh Nate! Uhm, I just finish packing. I'm going to our beach house in Charleston for a few days. I think I need some alone time."

Nathan watched his wife in confusion. "When are you going and for how long? Why didn't you tell me that you were going? Maybe I wanted to come with you. We take Abby along with us, it'll be fun."

She shook her dark curls. "No, that's ok. I know you've got a lot of work to do. Besides, you told me yesterday that you have a business meeting the day after tomorrow somewhere in Europe remember? There's no way you can come with." She said sadly.

"What about Abby? You can take her for the weekend."

"No I called Maria, she'll take care of Abigail."

"Maria? The nanny?" When Brooke nodded her head Nathan groaned. "Oh come on Brooke, you're not going to leave her with that women are you? I think it's a good thing to spend some extra time with your only daughter."

Brooke, who was getting angrier by the minute, recomposed herself as she took deep, long breath. "Nathan, I don't want to hurt your feelings but Abigail and I are alone most of the time anyways, there's no point taking her with me because I'm not in the mood to spend time with a whiney person."

"Who says she's going to be whiney?"

"Look, I just want to be alone for awhile ok?" She stepped in front of him and placed a soft kiss on his lips. He closed his eyes at the light touch of his wife, while she looked at him in satisfaction. "It's just for two or three days. I'll call you when I go home."

"What about me? I want to go to our beach house too!" Abigail emerged from the living room as she gave both of them a glance. "I can surf and get a nice tan, I promise _mother,_ that I won't be a problem."

Brooke took her eyes off of Nathan and gave her daughter an evil glare. "I think it's the best thing for you to stay home, _Abigail_. I'm sure you have lots of homework to do."

"She can do that in Charleston." Nathan shrugged his shoulders. "It's about time you two have some fun."

Already knowing there was no point arguing anymore, Brooke sighed and threw her hands up in surrender. "Fine, she can come with. But I'll warn you, I want some time for myself ok?"

When Abigail nodded excitedly before running to her bedroom to grab her suitcase, Brooke let out a fake smile to Nathan. "I'm glad you're taking her with you Brooke, you are a good mother."

She nodded her head and let him kiss her forehead. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to make a phone call." Brooke said as she kissed Nathan quickly on the lips to keep him satisfied.

* * *

**To Be Continued.**


	8. Bail Me Out

_I'm finally updating again. Thanks for the reviews, love them! Enjoy and let me know if you liked this chapter or not.  
x Helen._

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Chapter 8. Bail Me Out

Lucas threw himself back against the lounger with a dramatic huff. He'd tried to call Haley several times but she didn't answer her damn cell phone. She hadn't told him she went away, she hadn't left a note. Nothing. What on earth got into her?

"Haley, it's me. Where are you? Please call me back as soon as you can ok? I'm worried about you." He had left about ten messages on her voicemail and still he didn't get an answer.

Did she take off on purpose? Did she want to leave him? Lucas knew she had a good reason for that, they weren't exactly the happy married couple after all. Sometimes he still wondered why he had ended up with Haley, and not Brooke.

The only reason he could come up with was Dylan. His boy, his son, his everything.

He loved Haley, of course he loved her. He loved her since they became friends. But he wasn't _in_ love with her, he'd never been. Well, maybe when she'd given birth to Dylan. At that moment he thought she was the most beautiful women on the planet, and he caught himself falling in love with her.

But that changed quickly. After Dylan was born things weren't just the same between them. They weren't in love, they weren't even best friends anymore. When they were younger he felt like he could tell her everything, but now he always hesitated when he wanted to tell her something.

His thoughts were interrupted by his son storming in the room, followed by a gorgeous brunette girl right on his heels. They were oblivious by the fact that he was sitting on the lounger, looking at them with intrigued eyes.

"Dylan come on! I'm going tomorrow so you have to come with me! Don't worry about the money cause my dad will pay everything and there are plenty enough rooms so it's not like we have to share a bedroom or something."

Dylan turned around to face the girl, as he caught his father's eye. "Dad, are you going to Charleston tomorrow?" He asked calmly.

Lucas frowned as he looked at him as if he was crazy. He then looked at the girl who was turning pale. "No?"

"See? He's not going anywhere."

"It's not like he's going to tell you anything you smartass." She said with a tone in her voice that Lucas recognized immediately.

Standing up he hold out his hand to her, "Hi, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Lucas Roe, Dylan's dad."

The girl was staring at his hand before looking up at him with a slight smile on her face. "I'm Abigail Scott." She said without shaking his hand, making him look stupid.

"It's nice to finally meet you Abigail, I can't believe we haven't been introduced before." Lucas said trying to be friendly, although he thought that the nice act wasn't really helping with her liking him.

Abigail just stared at him with the same eyes her mother has, making him extremely uncomfortable. "So uhm… You look a lot like your mother."

At the mention of her mother, Abigail stiffened and turned around to face Dylan with an evil smile on her face that Lucas scared a little. That smile was way too familiar and he didn't like it one bit.

Abigail turned her head to look at Lucas again. Still smiling, she said, "thank you, I hear that a lot Mr. Roe. Now if I'm not mistaken, you knew my mother pretty well."

Lucas cleared his throat. "You could say that. Did she tell some things about me or something?"

"Not a single word." She still didn't wipe that smile off her face. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go home."

She was already walking away but Dylan grabbed her by the arm before she could leave the house. "I'm not going with you, so I can keep an eye on my father if he sneaks out or not." He whispered.

Abigail smiled and nodded her head before flashing a big smile to Lucas, who hadn't heard a single thing.

* * *

Haley was someone who was good in a crisis. Hell, she was amazing in a crisis. But this was even for her something she couldn't handle. A person shouldn't be in this situation. This was beyond crazy.

Some time during her panic attack, she had called Brooke. Brooke Davis-Scott. The only person she really didn't plan on talking to ever again.

She remembered the phone call clearly. It was unmistakable that Brooke felt the same way too.

"_Hello?"_

_Haley was silent for a while. She hadn't heard Brooke's voice in ages. The voice that hadn't changed at all. "Hey Brooke, it's Haley."_

_Now it was Brooke's turn to be silent. After a good minute, Brooke said with an angry tone in her voice, "why the hell are you calling me?!" _

_Haley had expected Brooke to react like that, so she tried to stay calm. "Look Brooke, I know we aren't exactly on speaking terms, but I need a favor. And I know you are mad at me and trust me you're not on my favorite person list either but I need you to help me with something."_

_She could hear Brooke sigh. "With what?" _

"_It's about Peyton..." _

Brooke hadn't reacted the way Haley thought she would. She seemed calm and acted like Haley hadn't committed a crime. It was like she was _relieved _that Haley got Peyton out of there.

After Haley told Brooke everything, how she had told the receptionist that she wanted to take a walk with Peyton, how she had dragged Peyton into her car before looking if nobody had seen them, how she had driven away like a crazy person. How she was scared shitless because she was in this hell of a situation.

But Brooke remained calm and collected, like she knew this was going to happen. Like she had expected it.

That was until Haley told her that she wanted to take Peyton to her beach house…

"_You want to go to our beach house in Charleston? Are you completely insane?!" _

"_I have no idea where else I have to go Brooke! I committed a crime here! I have no idea why I did this, I shouldn't let Peyton and her power of persuasion take over me. But you have no idea how she looked at me Brooke… Those eyes, she looked at me like she could see right trough me and then I just knew I had to take her out of there. She wasn't happy there, and she can't go home. Jake will take her back to the institution." Haley took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, taking it all in what she'd done before saying, "Anyway, do I have your help or not?"_

"_I guess…" Her voice was filled with hesitation. _

"_She'll appreciate this, and so do I. Thank you." _

_Haley could hear Brooke grumble something that sounded like, "It's not like I owe you something or anything." _

_She decided to act stupid like she hadn't heard Brooke and said, "No, I owe you."_

"_Yeah, I know."_

"_Anyway, we are now driving to the beach house, Peyton is asleep in the back of the car. She really wants to see you Brooke, when I visited her, her first thought was that is was you who came to see her."_

"_I think I can pay a visit tomorrow, but I'll have to take care of a nanny first. I can't leave my daughter alone in the house with Nathan gone all the damn time, no doubt that she's going to throw a party or whatever." The way she talked about her daughter was really worrying Haley, but she ignored it. "Jesus the things I do for you." Brooke hissed._

"_I know, and I can't thank you enough for that." _

"_But what do I have to tell Nathan? I don't want him to get suspicious."_

"_Tell him the truth, that you're going to the beach house for a few days. Just don't tell him that Peyton and I are there also." Haley saw Peyton stirring and she knew she was going to wake up anytime soon. "Anyway, I have to hang up. I'll see you tomorrow?"_

"_Yeah, I'll call you tomorrow or something."_

"_Ok, bye Brooke."_

"_Bye."_

And that was how the conversation had ended. Like they were two friends who helped out another friend. Like things were normal between them. But Haley knew that things were anything but normal.

* * *

They arrived at the beach house and Haley opened the door after she had called Brooke who had told her that there was a spare key under the doormat. Haley and Peyton hadn't shared a single word and the silence was starting to bother Haley.

So she tried to make a conversation with the words, "do you want something to drink?"

Peyton rolled her eyes at her. "Yes, but I'm not retarded, I can grab something to drink myself."

"Look, there's no need to get nasty Peyton. I took you out of there, like you asked me to do. I drove you to Brooke's beach house. I called Brooke -who I, by the way, haven't spoken to in years- for help and on top of that I committed a serious crime here! I took someone out of an institution!" The more Haley said those words the more it scared her. "I can end up in jail for this you know."

"I know, and I think you've got a hell of a lot more courage than you had when you were still little Tutor Girl." She said while she was looking trough some drawers.

Haley walked straight towards Peyton and closed the still open drawers that Peyton didn't find necessary to close. "What are you looking for?"

"Ha! Found them. I knew Brooke used to smoke when we were younger."

Haley let out a snort of disgust as she saw what Peyton was looking for. "Don't tell me you smoke too."

"I was in a mental institution for six months, do you really think I could make it without a few smokes?"

"Uhm, yeah? Smoking wasn't going to help you to leave that place."

"No shit, but kidnapping someone is."

Now it was Haley's turn to get nasty. "Look, I did this all for you Peyton. You can show me some more respect because without me you would still be in that place. So you can choose, or you act like you are thankful that I helped you, or I will drive you back to the institution."

"Is Brooke coming?" Peyton asked totally ignoring Haley's threatening. She lit up a cigarette and waited for Haley to answer.

Haley just gave it up. "Yes, she's coming tomorrow."

"That's good, I want to talk to her."

"Is there something you want to ask her?"

Peyton shook her loose blonde curls. "Nope, and if there was something, it's non of your damn business."

"Jesus Peyton! Fuck you and your fucking annoying answers! I thought I could help you, I thought we all could go back to being friends. I thought this made our connection as friends better. But you know what, I was wrong. This was all a mistake. You are still the fucked up depressed Peyton like you always have been. And I don't care what you're going to do or how you're going to explain your little escalade, but I'm out of here."

The other girl didn't look offended or anything near that. She just blew out her smoke as she let out a smirk. Slowly clapping her hands with that evil smile on her face, she watched as Haley was already leaving.

Before Haley was gone though, she said, "finally! I was waiting till you were going to explode. I have to tell you Hales, you really have good self control. I don't think I've known anyone who is as good as you in a crisis."

* * *

**To Be Continued.**


	9. Shocking News

_Hello there my dear readers! I've decided to put this story off hiatus and continue writing it, because it's doing a lot better then my other story (Dangerous Liaisons) that's now currently on hiatus. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and please leave some reviews. I don't like begging, but I do like reviews so let me know what you think. _

_Now on to the chapter...

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_

Chapter 9. Shocking News. 

Jenny was silently drawing a picture as she saw her father putting the phone down with a shocked and worried look on his face. His face was pale and it was as if he had seen a ghost. She wasn't paying any attention to his conversation before, but after a few minutes or so she noticed that the tone in his voice sounded most likely like fear.

His trembling hands didn't go unnoticed by Jenny, one running quickly trough his hair as he placed the other over his mouth.

"What's wrong dad?"

He didn't seem to hear her, he kept staring at the blank wall across the room. She tried again, "daddy?"

He finally turned around. "Honey, I have to go take care of something ok? I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

She quickly stood up as she followed her father who was now putting on his jacket, trying to avoid any eye contact with his only daughter. "Dad!"

After grabbing his car keys he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and left the house with a "everything's fine, don't worry."

But those words worried Jenny even more. What was going on? After a second she realized that it had probably something to do with Peyton. Only Peyton and herself could make Jake look so worried.

Then, a yellow post-it caught her attention. It was lying on the cabinet besides the phone. She walked towards it, immediately recognizing Jake's shaky handwriting.

_Don't forget to call Brooke Davis-Scott. _

A frown came up on Jenny's face. Why would her dad have to call Brooke? Brooke was Abigail's mother, and she was married to Nathan. Jake hated the Scott family. Now Jenny was positive that there was something wrong. Jake wouldn't call Brooke if it wasn't something extremely important.

Biting her lip slightly, a thing she did when she was nervous, she picked up the phone and dialed the number that was written under the text.

Waiting for half a minute, Jenny heard their voicemail.

"_Hi, you've reached the Scott's and at this moment non of us are home. Please leave a message after the beep and we'll call you back."_

Jenny hadn't heard Brooke's voice before. It was formal and stiff. She wondered if it was all fake, or if her mother really was befriend with such a dull sounding person.

Sighing, she put the phone down as she heard the beep. She didn't know why she'd called and it was actually a good thing that nobody had answered the phone.

She had no idea what she was supposed to say anyway.

* * *

Jake didn't think that he had driven this hard ever in his entire life. Every few seconds he would check his mirror to see if there weren't any cops behind him, who could give him a speeding ticket and probably put him in jail for years with the speed he was going at the moment.

It wasn't that he really cared that much. What he'd heard just minutes ago had appalled him more then anything in his entire life. Peyton was gone, missing. Somebody had kidnapped Peyton out of the mental institution. Or maybe she got out all by herself. Nobody knew when it had happened, or how this could happen. Nobody could give him some damn answers.

He had to go there as fast as he could.

The receptionist, however, did say that Peyton had a visitor and that she was the last one who had seen Peyton. They'd go for a walk, and after that Peyton had disappeared. She was pretty sure that the visitor was the one who'd took Peyton with her. She didn't want to say what her name was, over the phone anyways.

Jake couldn't help but think it was Brooke.

Brooke fucking Davis, in his mind had ruined Peyton, at least that was what he kept saying to himself. During their high school time he didn't hate her. In fact, back then he saw her as a friend. But as the years past by he started to like Brooke less and less.

She left Peyton.

She left her fucking best friend.

He shook his head, knowing that it wasn't helping him to think about Brooke this way. He had to call her but he first had to go to the institution to get some answers.

Just as he felt like he'd been driving for ages, the institution popped up in front of his eyes. He ran away without even checking if he'd parked the car right.

"Where is my wife?!"

The women sitting at the receptionist desk was looking at him weirdly. "Excuse me?"

"Look miss, I just got a call that my wife Peyton Jagielski is missing and I want to fucking know where she is now. So please give me some more information or I swear I'll call the police letting them know that this crappy institution can't even take care of their own patients!"

"Sir, I need you to calm down." She stood up and grabbed his arm softly. "Why don't you take a seat and wait while I'll go get a doctor who can give you more information about your wife, ok?"

Jake was in absolute panic. He hadn't been this scared in his entire life. Without really knowing what he was doing, he sat down with his face in his hands and waited.

What on Earth had gotten into Peyton to just leave? He thought she knew better, he thought she'd finally understood that this place was the best to stay for her if she wanted to get well. Now he wondered if this really was the best place to stay, if they didn't even could pay good enough attention to their own patients.

He let out a frustrated sigh while rubbing his palms over his face. This wasn't happening.

He had just lost his job, and now his wife was freaking missing. This had to be a big fucking nightmare.

* * *

After putting lots of thought into it, Jenny knocked on the door of the gigantic house. It took a few minutes before the door finally opened.

"Jenny? What are you doing here?" Abigail seemed confused but most of all distracted.

"Uh, I wanted to ask you something. Can I come in?"

The other girl hesitated for a moment but then stepped aside to let Jenny in. For a moment Jenny was in awe as she looked around her. The house was absolutely gorgeous, inside out. There was no doubt about that.

Then Jenny fixed her attention on a big black suitcase, standing next to Abigail. "Are you going somewhere?"

Abigail waved it away. "I'm going to our beach house in Charleston with my mom for the weekend. Should be _tons_ of fun." Her voice sounded bitter and filled with sarcasm. "Anyways, that's besides the point. What did you want to ask me?"

Jenny was about to tell her but got interrupted by a different, older stunning brunette.

"I hope to God that you packed all of your bags because I planned on leaving right _now_." As Brooke saw her Jenny standing next to her daughter, she stopped walking and gasped.

Getting uncomfortable by both Abigail and what she assumed was Brooke, staring at her, she politely stick out her hand. "Hello, it's nice to meet you. I'm Jenny Jagielski."

The older women raised an eyebrow while looking at her daughter and then accepted Jenny's hand and shook it. "I'm Brooke Scott, Abigail's mother. I didn't know that the two of you were friends?"

Abigail was quick enough to respond. "That's because we aren't exactly friends, we are just lab partners at school."

Although Jenny was slightly offended that Abigail thought so low of her that she had to make this pathetic excuse, she added, "yeah, we have to make a science project together."

"Is that so?" Brooke kinked her eyebrow once again. "I could be wrong but, I thought Abigail was one year younger than you, Jenny?"

Jenny got uncomfortable by Brooke's intense stare. "Uhm… That's correct, Mrs. Scott."

"So why would they partner up two girls from two different classes?"

"Because they wanted to try something new. Something about kids from different ages bonding together. I don't really know and frankly, I don't even care. All I know is that this project is due on eh… Monday so we have to work really hard on it."

Abigail grabbed Jenny's arm and dragged her with her towards the stairs. They both headed up but were once again interrupted by Brooke's voice.

"So I guess that means that you can't come with me to Charleston, right?"

Abigail stiffened. "Of course I can."

"But you have a science project due on Monday. I bet you have to work all weekend on it to finish it."

When Jenny saw that Abigail was having a hard time answering her mother, she quickly stated, "it's not that big of a project. Plus, I'm pretty good at science so it probably won't take that long."

"Nonsense." Brooke waved Jenny's answer away. "I want you both to get good grades, so you'll have to put all focus on that project. I think it's the best thing for you to stay home Abigail."

"But-…"

"No, I won't take no as an answer. You're staying home whether you like it or not. There's plenty enough food in the fridge, and if you want something you can always call your nanny."

Brooke grabbed her bags and opened the front door. "I'll be back on Monday. Have fun." An evil smile played on Brooke's lips before she slammed the door shut with a loud thud.

Jenny knew she was in a screwed up situation. She didn't mean for all of this to happen. She had no idea what to say to Abigail either so she decided to crack a joke. "So, you have a nanny huh?"

Abigail angrily turned around to face Jenny. "You have no idea what you've just done." She hissed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that coming over would screw up your weekend away with your mom. But let's take a look on the bright side, you didn't even want to go, right?"

"So not the point! There's a lot of stuff going on that I need to find out and this weekend was the perfect way to get some answers! Now you screwed up my whole plan!"

"What plan?"

"Non of your fucking business!" Abigail spat angrily. "You better have a good reason to be here or I swear I'll make your life a fucking hell."

Jenny knew she wasn't joking either. "It's kind of funny, cause I wanted to ask you something about your mom."

Abigail seemed interested. "What about her?"

"Well, a few hours ago my dad got this call and he acted all weird and stuff when he hung up. And before I could ask him what was happening, he left…"

"Big fucking deal, that hasn't anything to do with my mom. My mom wasn't the one who called your dad cause she hates him."

She ignored Abigail's attitude. "I know I thought that too but then I found a note that said '_don't forget to call Brooke Davis-Scott.' _So I found that extremely weird. Do you know if your mom secretly kept in touch with my dad?"

Abigail seemed in deep thought. "Why don't we find out?"

* * *

**To Be Continued.**


	10. Hold You In My Arms

_Thank you for all your kind words, they mean a lot to me. Here's the next chapter, hope you all enjoy! (Oh, and there could be some spelling mistakes, I was kind of tired when I re-read this so, sorry if it bothers you.)_

* * *

Chapter 10. Hold You In My Arms. 

On every normal road trip Brooke would go, she played her favorite CD and sang along with it at the top of her lungs. She did this only, of course, if she was alone in the car, and only if there weren't many cars driving behind or in front of her.

Now, Brooke Davis-Scott was driving in complete silence.

The quietness drove her absolutely insane but still she didn't dare to touch the stereo.

She had to think about things, brood even. Because in about two hours her life could turn completely upside down. It even freaked her out more that she was being so dramatic about it, and she didn't want to become that stupid drama queen again she was during high school.

It felt like she hadn't seen Haley in ages, and her old best friend Peyton even more than that. And in about two hours, she would see them. Both of them, at the same time, at the same place.

What was she supposed to say? How was she supposed to act? She had to think things trough, because if she would be in the state she was in now there was no way she could act calm and collected like she always did.

She never saw Peyton after she'd told Brooke to stay away from her. Of course she saw Haley sometimes.

While she wanted to go grocery shopping because her stupid housekeeper forgot to buy something, she caught Haley peacefully staring at her shopping list, whistling a tune innocently.

Brooke had turned around and waited in her car until she was absolutely positive Haley was gone.

She had seen Haley jogging at seven in the morning, when she herself wanted to go too.

She had caught a glimpse of Haley when she'd hurriedly put some clothing on and ran away trough the backdoor of Lucas' house.

But the last time she'd actually _talked_ to Haley? That must have been at least a decade ago.

_A little boy with a red cape carefully tied around his neck was sitting on the edge of the sandbox. His face wore a sore expression, and with his petite arms crossed he looked quite alone. _

"_Hey little man, are you here all by yourself?" _

_The boy looked up to see a beautiful brunette staring down at him, a slight smile forming on her lips. _

_He shrugged, as if saying that he didn't quite know, nor cared. _

_The woman sat next to him, placing her hands on her knees. "What a nice cape you have there. Do you like to play Superman?" _

_He shook his head. "No, I want to be Grover. Super Grover. And I wanted a blue cape, but mommy bought me a red one." _

"_I see. Well, why don't we go and find your mommy, little Grover." _

_With his eyes going wide, he told her, "I'm not Grover! Grover is blue!"_

_She laughed. "I know sweetie, but you wanted to be like Super Grover so I thought the nickname little Grover would fit." _

_As she expected, he didn't really understand what she was saying. "What's a nickname?" _

"_A nickname is a name of a person other than its proper name. Like, my real name is Brooke, but because I used to be really hyper and bouncy, and old friend of mine called me Tigger. And my other friend had blonde hair, so I called her Goldilocks. Do you understand what I mean?" _

_Brooke could read from his face that he still didn't, but she had no idea how to explain it more easily. _

_To her surprise, he replied, "I think so. Can I give you a nickname too?" _

"_Sure." _

"_Ok, then my nickname for you is basketball!" He was all excited._

"_Basketball?" _

"_Yeah! I like to play basketball, it's my favorite thing to do besides playing Super Grover, and I kind of like you too so it fits!" _

_She laughed out loud at this, still fascinated at how a child's mind worked, even though she had a daughter on her own who seemed to be his age. _

"_That's cute. Now tell me little Grover, why are you here all alone?"_

_He shrugged again. "My mommy told me that I could only play outside in the yard, but I play there all the time and I really wanted to go to the playground so I came down here on my own." _

_Before Brooke could say anything, another women ran towards the little boy and hugged him tightly, not noticing Brooke who was standing there. _

"_Oh Dylan I was so worried about you! You can never _ever_ walk away without telling me, do you hear me?"_

_When the women looked up to see who her son had been talking to, all the color on her faced seemed to be lost. Brooke's face went pale too. _

"_Dylan sweetie, why don't you go and play on the slide ok?" And like a good boy, he nodded his head and walked away, his cape rising in the wind. _

"_Who the fuck do you think you are, talking to my son?" _

_Brooke put her hands on her hips, her lips forming a thin line and her jaw tightened. "Your _son_, was here all on his own and I wanted to bring him home, like any good responsible mother would do."_

"_Don't you dare tell me that I'm a bad mother!"_

"_I didn't even say such a thing!"_

"_Whatever. Just stay away from us." She turned her head towards Dylan who was happily playing on the slide, obvious to the adults drama. "Dylan! Come over here, we're going home." _

_And as Haley dragged the little boy with her, he turned his head and waved at Brooke. "Bye basketball!" He yelled at her, waving his little hand._

Brooke smiled sadly at the thought of the memory still printing in her mind so clearly. Yep, that had been the last time she'd actually _talked_ to Haley.

* * *

"Ok, do you have everything with you?"

Jenny wasn't sure what Abigail meant by that. "What do you mean, everything?"

The other girl was grabbing all this stuff and kept walking from one room to another, Jenny right on her heels who had no idea why she was doing all this.

"Well, it's going to be a four hour drive or so…" Abigail stopped as if in deep thought. "… Actually, I'm not quite sure how long it takes us cause it's been awhile since I've been to our beach house."

"Beach house? Are we going to your beach house? Why?"

Abigail finally turned around and faced Jenny, who seemed to be more confused than ever. "Because my mom is there too." She stated simply.

Jenny rolled her eyes at this. "Well, duh. I already knew that. But why exactly are you going to go, while you know your mom doesn't want you to? And more importantly, why do _I_ have to go with you?"

Abigail sighed. "Ok look, first of all: don't ask so many damn questions. Second: I will tell you everything later while we're on the road, ok? Just grab some food and drinks and all the other stuff you need when you're going on a trip."

"But-"

"Just fucking trust me, alright?! It's going to be just fine!" Abigail screamed but quickly calmed down as she saw Jenny's shocked expression. "Sorry, I have anger outbursts sometimes. Anyways, you know Dylan, right?"

"Yeah…" Jenny narrowed her eyes in on her, wondering where she was going with this.

"Well, I think now that you're coming with, he will join us too."

Jenny sighed, giving it all up. This was all just too damn complicated and confusing for her. "Whatever, let's just prepare ourselves."

"Yeah, we don't have much time."

"God, this is going to be a long trip." Jenny mumbled.

They were driving in silence for what seemed hours, but were actually just five minutes, as Jenny broke down.

"Ok, can either one of you tell me what the hell is going on?"

"I would like to know the same thing." Dylan murmured as he glanced next to him at Abigail, who paying close attention to the road.

Jenny was shocked. "You mean, you just agreed to go on an four hour trip without even knowing why?"

"I can think of a few things, but I'm pretty sure Abigail is going to explain all of it right now, right Abigail?"

The brunette sighed. "I guess you guys deserve to know."

Jenny scoffed and rolled her eyes at hearing the lack of enthusiasm in Abigail's voice.

"Well, Dylan and I think that my mom is having an affair with Dylan's dad…"

"-That's what Abigail thinks." Dylan cut her off.

"Right, anyways… I think my mom is now going to our beach house for the weekend, to be with Dylan's dad, and we're going to caught them in the act."

"-Which is completely ridiculous considering my dad was just reading the newspaper at home minutes ago."

Abigail turned her head angrily, "can you just shut your mouth for one fucking second, Dylan?"

Dylan was about to say something but then turned his head and stared out of the window.

"As I was saying, we're going to catch them in the act."

"And this has to do with my family, because?"

"Because as soon as we found out about the two lovely couple, we can ask questions as much of we want and they're going to have to answer honestly. Only because otherwise we're going to tell the whole world about their secret affair."

Dylan laughed out loud at her pathetic idea, and Jenny ignored him, "So you're going to blackmail your own mother?"

Abigail shrugged. "So what, she's a bitch anyways."

"And you don't think your mom would answer your questions without you having to blackmail her?"

"You seriously think she's going to answer my questions about your dad, who I might add, she hates? No way."

Jenny then turned to Dylan. "What about Lucas?"

"What about my dad?"

"Do you think he would answer you honestly when you ask questions like that?"

"I don't want to ask him questions like that because they are completely and utterly ridiculous!"

"They are not!" Abigail screamed once again.

"Yes they are! My dad is now at home, making phone calls because he can't find my mom or something."

Jenny frowned at this. "Your mom is missing?"

"Not missing, she's probably at the mall and forgot to turn on her cellphone or something." Dylan gave Jenny a reassuring smile, but on the inside he was really wondering where the hell his mom could be.

Yes, she liked to spend some time at the mall. Ok, maybe a lot of time, but she would never be gone from early in the morning to this late. She would have called if there was something wrong, right? Or maybe she was out of battery. Or, maybe there really was something going on.

Apparently, Abigail could read his face because a troubled smile played on her lips, saying, "You do think something's wrong with your mom, right Dylan?"

He threw his hands in the air. "I don't fucking know anymore."

"Jeez, our parents are such fuck-ups."

All of them agreed to that.

* * *

Brooke sighed deeply.

This was it, this was her beach house. In about one minute she would face her two old friends, who she both hadn't spoken to in years.

Carefully, Brooke opened the door and stepped inside. She could hear voices coming from the kitchen. She closed her eyes for a second, took another deep breath and picked up her pace as walked towards the place.

And then she saw the two of them, one who she recognized immediately, and the other looking nothing like the person she remembered years ago.

She clasped one hand on her mouth, and let out a sob.

Peyton's hair wasn't shiny blonde like it was supposed to be, her eyes didn't have that sparkle, now they had a dark shade and she had huge bangs under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept in weeks. She was thin, undernourished and she looked just downright sick.

Without realizing what she was doing, she threw her arms around the thin figure, hugging it like she would never want to let it go.

"I'm so sorry Peyton, for everything." She whispered.

And for a moment, everything was ok.

* * *

**To Be Continued.**


	11. No Way Back

_Hey guys, I'm sorry it took me such a long time to update. To be honest, I haven't been giving this story much of my attention. Mostly because lately I haven't been really inspired to write this. I didn't know where I wanted to go with this, but now I do so here's the next chapter. Drop a line or two and you would make me so happy!_

* * *

Chapter 11. No Way Back

Dylan sighed as he checked the clock again. The ride had been silent for most of the time and it started to bother him. It made him think about thoughts that shouldn't be in his head. Like the question if Abigail was right or not. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him.

"Can I change the radio station? This one is kind of boring."

"It's good music." Abigail snapped. "If you touch the stereo you're dead."

He rolled his eyes. Figures she would threaten him.

"It's crap. But whatever, if that's what you want to listen to then I'm not stopping you."

"That's right, you can't stop me."

He had enough of her attitude. "You're so full of yourself, you know that? You think you're better than anyone."

Abigail let out a snort. "Right, like you're one to talk."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know damn right what I'm talking about."

"Actually, I do not. But like I said, whatever. It's not like I care."

"Good. It's not like I care about your guts either."

"Can you two please stop your bickering? I'm tired of your constant fighting." Jenny let out a sigh. "Dylan, just admit it you like Abigail and her attitude. I know how you're always checking her out when you think she's not watching."

Dylan frowned at Jenny's sudden outburst and Abigail just smirked. "And Abigail, don't think I haven't noticed the way you look at him. You're interested in him too, whether you want to admit it or not."

The two teenagers were silent and Jenny let out a content sigh. Mission accomplished.

* * *

Lucas was getting really worried. He hadn't heard from his wife in hours and it wasn't helping that her cell phone was turned off. Her voicemail was starting to irritate him.

"Haley, I don't even remember how many times I've called and that means a lot. I really am worried, please let me know where you are." He sighed. "I love you."

With a thud he let himself fall on the couch. His thoughts drifted to a certain brunette, and it wasn't the one he was in love with for all those years.

Her daughter was an exact replica of her mother. The hair, the dimples, the eyes, especially the eyes… Like they could look right trough you till it made anyone and everyone give in.

Dylan hadn't mentioned her before, so it really surprised him. He had no idea that his son and her daughter knew each other, let alone hang out.

The phone rang, interrupting him from his thoughts, and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally Haley, you really scared me."

"This isn't Haley Luke, it's me."

"Jake? Oh I'm sorry, I was expecting a call from my wife."

"So I take it Haley isn't home then?"

Lucas frowned. "No, she went away quite some time ago and frankly, I have no idea where the hell she could be."

A silence fell upon them, and Lucas wondered if Jake had hung up on him. "Jake, you there man?"

"What? Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that, something bad happened."

"What is it?"

"Peyton's been missing Luke. She's not at the institution anymore."

He prepared himself for the worst. "You mean, she escaped?"

"Yes, something like that. It's chaos here, we don't know where the hell she can be. I tried calling some people but they haven't seen her. The police are already looking for her."

"Man, are you serious?" He widened his eyes. "And you called me to ask me if she's here?"

Jake was again silent. "Yes, but I can hear by your voice that she's not."

"No, she isn't."

"There's another reason I called."

"Yeah?"

"Someone helped her to get out of the institution. I ask the receptionist if she had any visitors lately besides me, and she told me that there was one women who had just stopped by."

Lucas didn't like the way where Jake was going with this.

"It's Haley, Lucas. She was her last visitor."

* * *

The three of them were sitting on the couch, not really knowing what to say. The awkwardness was surrounding them, and it made them all nervous.

Peyton was the first one to speak up. "So, the two of you are still friends?"

"No, we definitely aren't friends." Brooke said bitterly as she saw Haley looking away.

The curly blonde let out a laugh. "Are you serious? What about Lucas and Nathan?"

"We don't keep in touch with each other anymore. Nathan's too busy with his work and I don't have a lot of time either."

Haley scoffed. "That's just bullshit."

Brooke turned her head so she could face the other woman. "Excuse me?"

"You know damn well that that is not the reason we don't keep in touch anymore."

"Yeah, because of you! You were so jealous that Nathan loved me and not you that you didn't want to talk to me!"

"Right, like that was the real reason." She shook her head. "You always liked to turn it all around you Brooke. Well I have something for you, the world doesn't resolve around Brooke freaking Davis."

"Scott." Brooke corrected her. "And whatever, if that's what you'd like to think."

"You weren't really in love with Nathan. When he came over to California during that summer he was bitter because we'd just broken up. You knew he was vulnerable and still you slept with him and kept playing tricks with his mind."

Brooke let out a bitter laugh. "Oh my God! I can't believe you still think that I tricked Nathan to be with me. You are pathetic."

"You were still in love with Lucas. But when you found out you were pregnant you stayed with Nathan because it was the right thing to do."

The brunette stood up in anger. "You don't know shit about me! Don't you dare just sit there and tell me why I'm in love with my husband! You're just bitter because the man you are in love with and the man who you claim to be your husband are both in love with me."

Haley was about to make another nasty comment but got stopped by Peyton. "You two have a lot of issues, it makes me wonder why I'm the only one who's locked up."

It was supposed to be a joke but the two weren't laughing. "Oh come on, loosen up a little. I was just kidding."

"It's not something to joke about, Peyton."

"Oh Haley I see you're still the serious and controlled person you've always been. Don't make me think Brooke's right, about you being pathetic."

Now it was Brooke who had enough. "Listen, I gave up my free time to be here." The other two rolled there eyes. "And I don't want to waste anymore. What is going to happen now?"

"I have no idea." Haley answered honestly. "What do you think Peyton?"

She shrugged in return. "You two do got me out of there. Now the only thing I have to do is make sure it stays that way. I went crazy by just sitting there."

"That's kind of the reason you were there in the first place." Brooke muttered and Haley shot her a look.

"What is the real reason why you didn't want to stay there? Don't you realize it's the right place that's supposed to make you better?" Haley asked Peyton.

"Better? I've never been sick!"

"Oh don't give me that crap P. Sawyer, you've been depressed since you were still in diapers!"

All of a sudden the front door opened and three teenagers stood in front of them, all wearing a different facial expression.

"Mom?"

"Mother?"

"Peyton?"

The adults sat there, their mouths open but the words didn't come out.

"What the hell is going on?"

**To Be Continued.**


	12. Question Mark Royale

_It took me awhile to update, and I'm sorry because of that. A good thing is, I know exactly how I want this story to end. I've got it all planned in my head which means I'm gonna update more frequently. Anyways, I don't want to bore you with any more excuses, so let's just continue the story._

* * *

Chapter12. Question Mark Royale.

The three teenagers waited till someone would say something but they all remained silent. At this point, Abigail had enough and repeated her question, now with much more power and anger in her voice.

"I asked you something! What the fuck is going on?"

"Watch your language, Abigail." Brooke said with clenched teeth.

In return, her daughter rolled her eyes. "So not the point right now, you're avoiding the question."

"Peyton, why aren't you in the institution?" Jenny joined in, curious as hell why the women she considered her mother was here instead of there.

"I thought you didn't like Brooke, mom?" Dylan now asked.

"And I thought you didn't like Haley, _mother_?" Abigail snapped, crossing her arms.

Haley was the one to speak up. "I know this must be very confusing for all of you kids, but you have to understand this is non of your business. It's all very complicated, you wouldn't understand."

"Oh come on Haley, they are not little kids anymore. They can know the truth."

"Peyton!" Brooke's eyes widened in alarm, quickly casting a glance at her daughter. "Like Haley said, this should stay between the three of us."

Abigail sat down on a chair as she got comfortable. "Now this sounds interesting."

Jenny and Dylan still hadn't moved. "Mom, what do you mean by truth?"

Haley stared at the floor, not really knowing what to say. "Dylan…"

"Peyton…" Jenny interrupted her, not taking her eyes off of her mother. "Why aren't you in the institution?"

The blonde took a step closer towards Jenny, who backed away. "Look Jen, I couldn't be there anymore. It was too much to handle."

"That doesn't mean you can just disappear!" Jenny shouted. "Dad is looking everywhere for you! He's so worried it's not even human!"

Peyton looked down as her daughter continued. "But do you know what I think is even worse? You haven't talked to me in months… _Months_, Peyton. And just because you're miserable there you think you can escape with the help of the two people who let you down years ago! You didn't even think to turn to me, _or_ dad."

"That's not true! I asked your dad for help all the damn time! But he didn't want me to leave, he wanted me to stay in that hell hole!"

"Because it's supposed to make you better! Cause if you haven't noticed Peyton, you're sick!"

"No I'm not!" Peyton screamed at the top of her lungs which made Jenny take another step back in shock.

No words dared to be spoken, just the loud breathing of both Peyton and Jenny were heard.

"I can't believe that after all those years you're still in denial." Jenny whispered.

At that moment Haley felt it was her obligation to step between the two. "Let's just all sit down for a minute and get you kids something to drink before we continue. I think it's now finally the time to tell them."

Although she was still angry, Peyton agreed.

"Brooke?" Haley asked for confirmation.

She nodded in return, but before she could say something, her cell phone started ringing.

Brooke glanced at her screen and then looked up to the others. "It's Lucas."

* * *

Jake was now walking in circles for the last past hour, he started to wonder if he didn't make a hole into the carpet. His wife was still missing, and the cops hadn't found her either.

At this point they were questioning Lucas, about when he'd last seen Haley or if he'd known that Haley wanted to get Peyton out of the institution. Jake could hear Lucas didn't have any more answers as he did.

Grabbing his hair out of frustration, he let out a grunt. He couldn't actually believe this was really happening.

When they were out of questions, realizing that Lucas didn't know anymore than they already did, they let him go.

"This is all insane."

Jake turned towards Lucas, and nodded his head. "What am I supposed to do man? Have you tried calling Haley again?"

"Yeah, but she's not answering her phone." He replied bitterly. "I think I've left about a hundred voice mail messages already."

"I had no idea Haley and Peyton were keeping contact all those years." Jake shook his head.

"That's because they haven't. I would have known. She would have told me."

"You sure about that?"

Lucas shot him a glare. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Jake threw his hands in the air. "I don't know. Maybe she didn't want you to get involved. You know how Haley is, she always looks out for everyone."

"That could be it." He shrugged. "I just can't believe she hasn't called me yet."

"Maybe she's out of battery?" Jake offered.

"No. I think she just isn't ready to face reality yet."

Jake wasn't sure what Lucas meant by that, but he decided to let it go. All his thoughts led to one single person: his wife. He then suddenly remembered that he'd left Jenny at home, without giving her an explanation on what was going on.

"Hey Luke, I'm going to call Jenny and try to explain what has happened." Jake grabbed his phone and murmured, "I hope she didn't find my note about calling Brooke."

Lucas head shot up. "You wanted to call Brooke?"

"Yeah, I thought that maybe she was behind Peyton's disappearing act." Jake waved it away. "But now we know it was Haley, it doesn't matter anymore. I'll be right back."

When Jake walked away, Lucas' thoughts were racing trough his head.

He had to find out if Brooke knew more about the escape. In some weird way, he had a feeling she did know more. A lot more.

So he did the only thing he could do, he called her.

* * *

Brooke stared at her cellphone as Lucas' name flashed on the screen. She didn't know what to do: pick up now and deal with him, or not picking up and deal with the others.

"Wait, did you say Lucas? As in my husband Lucas?"

There was no point denying it. "Uhm, yeah."

"Why on Earth does Lucas want to call you? He hasn't spoken to you in years!"

Abigail watched her mother closely. Then she said, "Or maybe she has."

Brooke turned her head around quickly, and shot her daughter such an angry glare that it made Abigail shiver.

Haley watched the two. "Oh my God. You're still talking to him. In all those years you've manipulated him so he was forced to keep in touch."

The older brunette snorted. "That's the biggest bullshit I've ever heard."

The cellphone stopped ringing and silence fell into the room.

"Then what is the truth?" Peyton wanted to know.

Looking around to see all eyes on her, Brooke felt trapped. "I-I… It's not like-"

"-They were still seeing each other because they used to be friends. And unlike all the shit that has been going on between all of you, they didn't want to get some stupid fight get in their way. So if you wanted to hear the truth, that's it."

Brooke was stunned as she watched Abigail. Her daughter didn't want to look her in the eye, instead she stared at Haley, daring her to say something back.

"Is that true, Brooke?"

Not even half of it was true, obviously the main reason why she and Lucas kept in touch was because they couldn't keep their hands of each other, but Haley and the rest didn't need to know that.

So Brooke's answer was calm and collected. But most of all, a lie. "Yes, that's the truth."

* * *

Lucas threw his cellphone on the couch angrily. What was it with women and picking up their cellphone today? He'd called Haley so many times he started to wonder if it wasn't overrated. Then again, he didn't expect Brooke to pick up her phone. Lately their relationship (if that's what you wanted to call it) wasn't really what it used to be.

Then his thoughts led to Jake who had to tell his daughter that her supposed to be mother wasn't in the institution anymore, and that they thought Haley had something to do with her escape. To even think about it made it so unrealistic, so unlike Haley.

Soon he had to tell his own son about it. He had no idea how to, all he knew was that it wasn't going to be an easy conversation.

Then he wondered where his son could be. He remembered reading the newspaper as his son stated that he was going to go on a camping trip or something. He had sounded really vague and now Lucas asked himself if that really was the truth.

All of a sudden a certain brunette was spinning in his head, her smirk evil and her smile broad but fake, just like her mothers.

"_Dad, are you going to Charleston tomorrow?"_

His son had asked the question so calmly but the brunette had turned as pale as a ghost as soon as she heard that.

"_See? He's not going anywhere." _

"_It's not like he's going to tell you anything you smartass." _Abigail had replied.

At that moment he was so fascinated that the beautiful daughter of Brooke Davis (-Scott, he had to remind himself bitterly) was standing in his living room, that he had completely forgot to ask why they had asked all those weird questions.

Why did they think he was going to Charleston? And what was the reason he had to be there?

He was going to find out soon because he knew the exact person who could give him the answers.

**To Be Continued.**


	13. The Truth

_A:N/ hey everyone, I'm sorry this took so long! My life is pretty hectic at the moment, I know it's a crappy excuse but it's the truth (hence the title, lol). I hope you all enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think by hitting the purple button. I know you waaaant toooo, heh. Love, Helen._

Chapter 13. The Truth

Lucas waited nervously as he stood in front of their large front door. It was weird to stand there, normally he had to find a way to sneak into the house. Most of the times she had told him to go inside trough the back door, but sometimes he even had to go trough the window.

He shook his head, it was a long time ago that he had done stupid things like that.

Sadly, he turned around and was about to walk away when he heard a voice that stopped him.

"Can I help you?"

The manly voice made him grimace, knowing he wouldn't be as polite as he knew who had knocked on his door.

Slowly, he turned around. "Hey Nathan."

Indeed, Nathan wasn't pleased to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry to bother you but I need to see my son."

Nathan raised his eyebrow. "And why would he be here?"

Lucas looked at him confused. "So you mean he's not?"

"Of course he's not! He has no reason to be here."

"That's where you're mistaken. In case you didn't know, your daughter and my son are friends." He didn't know if that was really true, but the shocked look on Nathan's face was worth the little white lie.

"You're serious?"

"Why would I lie about that?" Lucas snapped. "Anyway, my son isn't here so I'm going to go now."

"Figures you wouldn't even know where your own son is." Nathan muttered.

Lucas turned around. "What did you just say?"

"I said, figures you don't know where your one and only son is."

"If I were you, I would shut your fucking mouth." Lucas replied angrily. "And besides, I bet you don't even know where your own daughter is."

"Of course I know where my daughter is!"

"Oh I'm sorry, I mean all I hear from Dylan is that you're working all the time and that you barely have any free time left to spend with your family." He had listened hours to Brooke ranting about it, but that didn't matter at this point.

"I do work a lot, yes… And it's true that I have an important meeting right about now, but at least I know that my own kid is visiting our beach house in Charleston with her mother!"

Bingo.

Lucas threw his hands in the air. "Fine, whatever. I don't want you to be late at your important meeting, so I'm going to leave."

"You do that." Nathan said with his teeth clenched.

As Lucas walked away, he couldn't help but smile.

He had a feeling that he would find all his answers in Charleston.

* * *

"So…" Jenny began, obviously trying to break the tension.

"Yeah…" Haley answered, not really sure what to say.

Brooke let out a deep sigh as she stood up. "Ok, this is getting ridiculous. We got Peyton out of there so I'm leaving. Abigail, grab your stuff and come with me."

As expected, Abigail stubbornly crossed her arms and shook her head. "No, I'm not going anywhere until I hear the truth first. You all agreed to tell us the truth before Lucas called, remember?"

"I don't care what we said before, I want to leave and I want to leave right now. So grab your damn things and come with me!" She was yelling now, making everyone but Abigail flinch.

"Brooke, come on. Don't talk to your daughter like that, you know she deserves to hear the real story."

Brooke's jaw clenched as she looked at Haley with fire in her eyes. "Don't you dare tell me what to do! I'm her mother so I can do anything I want!"

Haley threw her arms in the air in surrender, "Fine. If you think the best way to raise a kid while cursing all the time, be my guest."

"That's enough." Peyton said as she quickly got up to get the other two away from each other. "Brooke, you go sit over there and Haley, please take a seat on the couch ok? We don't want you two to kill each other."

Weirdly enough, Brooke and Haley sat down without much struggling. Satisfied, Peyton turned around and looked at the kids.

Dylan, who hadn't said a word since his father's call was silently leaning against a wall, his eyes staring at the ground. He looked so much like Lucas, the blonde hair, the piercing blue eyes. But as she watched him closely, she saw that he had Haley's nose and smile.

She then stared at Abigail, who she hadn't seen in years. She'd turned into a beautiful women, just like her mother. The silky dark hair, porcelain skin and dimples were all Brooke, but her eyes were blue just like her father's. The fierce attitude was definitely a combination of both, though.

Then, her focus stranded on the girl she claimed her daughter. She looked a lot like Nikki, but Peyton refused to think about that. All she could see was a lost and sad girl, who wanted to know some answers.

And she was going to get some. She deserved to know after all the pain, loss and stress Peyton had give her.

"It was my fault." Peyton began, fully aware all eyes were now on her. "When Haley visited me, I told her that I wanted to get out of there. You all have no idea what it's like to just sit in a room all day long for months and months, while getting feed by some nurse who talks to you like you're crazy."

As she looked at Jenny, she continued. "Do you want to know the reason why I didn't want you to visit me? Because I've lost so many people I loved already –my mother, my birthmother, my father–, it was like everyone around me who I loved died. And I thought that when I told you and Jake to never visit me, I would somehow stop loving you so that I wouldn't have to be afraid to lose you. Sounds crazy right?"

Jenny was now crying, tears streaming down her face. Peyton quickly placed her hands on Jenny's cheeks and tried to dry the tears. "But you have to know that it didn't help. The longer I didn't see you, the more I thought about you and how much I loved and missed you. And one day I realized that I make myself even more depressed by thinking about all of the people I loved, and that was on the exact same day that Haley visited me."

"You knew I would be weak enough to listen to you." Haley whispered.

Peyton smiled sadly. "You're not weak, Haley. I knew that you were an amazing person who, though it was illegal, would do anything to help me."

"I also knew that you didn't talk to my oldest friend here, that somehow along the way you two started to despise each other." The curly blonde continued, as she watched Brooke staring at her hands nervously. "So when I told you that I wanted to get out of the institution and you agreed to help me, I made sure to tell you that maybe the best place to hide was somewhere _out of town_, somewhere nobody would find us, like… A _beach house_."

"You tricked me!" Haley's voice raised.

"Of course, the only person you know who owns a beach house is Brooke. And I thought that when you would be stressed out you would forget your hate towards her. It worked, you called her and she agreed to help you."

Peyton took a look around to see everyone staring at her, so she smirked. "The thing I wasn't so sure about was the fact if Brooke would help you or not. Because last time I heard, you became quite the bitch."

Both Brooke and Abigail snorted.

"But deep down, I knew you were still my best friend Brooke, the selfless person you always were in high school."

The blonde clapped in her hands, glad she finally got that off her chest. "So kids, now you know everything. Now you know the real story."

They all were silent for a few minutes, all lost in their own thoughts.

Then, Abigail spoke up. "Wow, that's a fucked up story."

Everyone chuckled at that.

* * *

As Lucas drove towards Charleston, he picked up his phone and dialed Jake.

Not even two seconds later, he picked up. "Luke, do you have more news about Peyton?"

"I think I do Jake. I think, no I'm almost positive, that Peyton is at Brooke's beach house in Charleston."

Jake was obviously confused. "What do you mean, Brooke's beach house? They never even talk to each other."

"Trust me, I have a feeling that she will be there. Including Brooke, my wife, and all the kids."

"But… What, how do you know?"

"I'll explain later. Right now I'm almost in Charleston, you should come too."

Lucas could hear Jake picking up his car keys and his jacket. "I'll come as soon as possible."

"Ok, and Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"I think you should inform the police."

** To Be Continued.**


End file.
